More than one way to protect you
by Z-ro
Summary: It were the huntsmen who told him, his spirit was willing, just not able. What else is a thirteen year old kid supposed to do? Jaune did not know what a patrolman was, but it was his only chance to be someone that could protect people. Picture by Perfilles-Studio.
1. Chapter 1 Not a hero

Nathaniel Arc had just closed the furnace for the sword. It would take a while before he could really temper the blade. He stood up and walked out of the blacksmith shop and down to his house. He could barely see the blonde locks of his son Jaune from this side of the house but he could definitely hear the boy.

"Please tell me he's not beating some poor animal with that stick."

Nathaniel saw his dreamer son exclaim "Look at my sword dad! I'm going to be a hero!" Jaune looked up to see his father. "Just like you."

 _Didn't I just tell him to knock that off!_

Jaune's shaky hands felt the sting as the fragile tree branch flew from his hands. A slap knocked him hard and echoed across the wood clearing. The young teen grunted when he landed on all fours and slowly looked up to his father. "This ends now Jaune. If you want to grow up so fast, then you will find a job that you can actually do. I no longer want to hear about this being a hero business. Huntsmen are hardly heroes."

Jaune felt hot drops hit his hands and only vaguely felt his father look at him before the old man sighed and walked away.

It was only after he heard his father go inside that Jaune rolled on his back and looked at the sky through watery eyes. His breath was painful and his hands ached from the rug burns when the branch he had used as a sword was ripped from his hands. He must have fallen asleep because when he heard a voice the sun was suddenly halfway down.

"Are you just going to lay there like a bum?"

Jaune looked up to see his sister hover over him with a smile. The boy closed his eyes and wiped his eyes with his shirt sleeve. "Go away April."

April huffed as she put her hands on her hips. "Dad said you wanted to be a huntsman. That's a new one. What will it be next week?" she said with a smile. "A dancer? An explorer? You really should just focus on studying and just choose something. No more just declaring you will be something and give up after a day or two."

Jaune looked at his sister with a pout. He sniffed as she gave him a patient smile and helped him up. "What started this anyway? Dad looked pissed."

Jaune looked away and refused to talk. April helped her youngest sibling up and grabbed a bucket of water from the well. Over ten minutes passed while he had his hands cleaned and bandaged. Jaune flexed his hands a few times before really looking at his older sister. "Thank you April."

April smiled through her long blonde braids. "Just looking out for you Jaune. You still didn't explain how you got the idea to be a huntsman. None of us have ever thought to do anything like that. And no one in the family has ever fought grim."

Jaune mumbled something.

"What was that?"

Jaune exhaled. "Dad has."

That gave her pause. "How did you find out?"

"You knew?" Jaune gave her a glare. April nodded but kept her mouth closed. She shrugged before she nudged him to continue.

"I found a picture of his team while working with mom to clean the attic. He had a armor and pictures of people and everything." Jaune felt himself smile as remembered being so excited when he found out. He wanted to hear stories and ask who these people were in the picture. Jaune never expected the glare that ran across his fathers face. Nor the look he saw his father gave the picture. Jaune knew he should have left the picture in the chest where it belonged after his father put it away. But the giddiness Jaune felt when he thought his dad was a hero stuck in his mind. Like a superhero at night and blacksmith by day. That ended quickly when his fathers' voice scared him. When his father took the stick away and hit him.

"Just let dad cool off Jaune. He doesn't like talking about what he did before marrying mom. I only know because of the sword he has in his room." Jaune looked at his sister in surprise. But she sadly shook her head. That brought down any joy at the news. "He was never happy as a huntsman Jaune. He hated it." April sighed before she patted his back. "Are you ok?"

Jaune shook slightly. He had never been hit by his father before. Sure he had been threatened by his mom. But he never felt the sting he had on his cheek. "I'm ok. I think I am just surprised."

April laughed. "You always were the baby of the family. You never did get hit for misbehaving did you?"

Jaune shook his head.

"Then you never saw daddy when he was super-angry-daddy. I got plenty of licks for sneaking out to meet my boyfriend." April giggled thinking about it. "Totally worth it by the way. Dad's just worried."

"Ok.. and ew?" The reaction from her brother made April laugh. It slowly unstressed him. He gave her an awkward smile before looking down. "I just thought he would be proud that I would want to fight grim."

The two sat in a companionable silence for a few minutes. April stretched. "Think you are ready to come in?"

Jaune shook his head. "I'll go inside in a bit. I think I just want to be alone." His sister gave him a skeptical look but hugged him before she stood and walked inside.

Jaune could hear some voices along with the laughter of his other sisters. His stomach grumbled and he knew he missed dinner. When the night was full of stars, Jaune laid down and stared at the sky. The moon lit the ground and he shivered as the cool air hit his arms. Jaune had long stopped crying and the ache of his hands and cheeks dulled into a warm throb. The house door opened and closed with a loud clack. Jaune tensed as he heard his fathers' boots walk up to him. The thirteen-year-old closed his eyes and pulled his legs in and wrapped his arms around them.

The older man exhaled before he sat down next to the boy. Jaune felt his father's body heat next to him but did his best not to do anything to gain the man's attention. He almost thought it would work and he would go away. "Jaune. I'm sorry."

Jaune stayed still, unwilling to look at his father. The silence stretched for a while before he heard his father, "You surprised me with that picture. Here, look."

Jaune slowly opened his eyes and saw the picture he had found that morning. "That is Raz, Oscar, Bianca. And that one is me when I was very young. We were called team robin." Jaune nodded silently. "And I loved them very much. You dug up a lot of bad memories with this picture Jaune. But you didn't deserve to be hit."

Jaune finally looked up. He barely noticed his fathers red eyes. His father rubbed them before he added. "This was one of the last times we were together alive." Jaune gave a silent 'oh' sound.

"It didn't happen all at once either. First, it was Bianca. Another mission Raz. Oscar decided he was done with being a huntsman and I agreed. But like with most frontier villages, his was attacked by grim. He died while defending his home."

Jaune felt an arm wrap around him. "If only I had trained harder, or if I had talent or skill, I could have saved them. It ate at me for years."

Jaune swallowed the lump in his throat. "Why did you become a huntsman?"

The man's face soured as he looked at his son. He poked his son's forehead with a finger. "I wanted to be a hero. Someone who can save people." Jaune realized at that moment that this was hard for his father to talk about. He sat up straighter.

"The Arc family had always been soldiers Jaune. Going all the way back to your great-grandfather. With the advent of huntsmen that specialized in customizable dust weapons that synergized with aura, soldiers were passed by like my father. Nowadays, if you wanted to defend Vale against grim, it only takes four huntsman instead of the squads of normal soldiers. But it came with a sacrifice."

Jaune waited as his father let his mind wander. The young teen began to feel drowsy before he heard his father speak again. "The huntsmen now have aura as their primary defense. But that makes it nearly impossible for them to relate with normal civilians."

Jaune pulled away and looked at his father. "Why?"

The man just smiled and picked up a stick from the ground. His hand glowed for a second and then he threw the branch. The branch spun towards the tree a ways away. The thing was no bigger than the one that Jaune has used as a fake sword. It sailed through the air almost lazily before the tree shook with a heavy thud. The branches waved from the impact and the bark of the trunk that touched the branch imploded.

Jaune heard a few screams inside at the same time he heard his dad laugh. Cautiously he saw his mom peak out of the door and sighed at her husband. "Sorry love. Just making a point. Ignore it."

Jaune's mother shook her head. "Jaune. There is still a plate of food for you on the table." Both father and son watched as she walked in and closed the door behind her. Jaune felt his father lean into his ear to whisper, "Your mother is an incredible woman Jaune. She married a huntsman even after knowing that I could do that to a tree without trying. That I could easily do the same on accident to her and our children."

Jaune wanted to defend him, "But you would never hurt mom."

His father gave a bitter laugh as he leaned back to look at the stars. "Now I don't. It took me a long time to learn how to suppress my enhanced strength. I never needed to among other huntsmen. But with a civilian? Well, try explaining that to her mother or her family when she had bruises on her body from me just touching her. It took them a long time to realize that I was not beating her." Jaune shivered at the information.

"Aura is an amazing ability but it has its drawbacks. If you had your aura unlocked I would have to separate you from your sisters, from everyone. And when you lived on your own, you would need to make sure you are in a place where there would be no civilians around unless you were confident in fighting grim. Huntsmen attract grim with their aura alone."

Jaune shook his head again. He had not realized how little he knew of his dad. He had just always accepted that he was there. Now that they were talking, Jaune had no idea who his father was before he was born.

"When someone has their aura unlocked, they have only one option as a profession. Grim sense them. Aura is a projection of emotions Jaune. Grim pick up on it much faster than they could on civilians. Your great-grandfather was a hero without aura. Your grandfather was a soldier with no aura but he saw the value of it. And your uncle and I were expected to train and join their ranks. That lasted until your grandfather realized instead of being soldiers in the military, we wanted to be Huntsman."

Jaune felt his father shift to get more comfortable. "Your grandfather said to give it up. He said that my brother and I did not have the talent to use aura."

Jaune scrunched his face. "How can you have talent for aura? How would you even know?"

Jaune's father laughed as he patted his son's head. "That's what I thought. Bianca always said aura is the ability to use your soul. How could you know that someone was bad at something unless you tried? But as annoying as it was to me, your grandfather was right, I was never good at it. While everyone around me became strong and capable I felt myself falling further behind. I had planned to retire early, and those thoughts would come often, but my team always somehow convinced me to keep going. Their encouragement made me stay."

Jaune nodded and leaned into his father's arm. "When I finally retired, I wondered… If I had only retired sooner would they be alive? I haven't thought about being a huntsman in over twenty years Jaune. There was a reason for me turning away from that way of life."

"D-do you think I have talent in it?" Jaune asked hopefully.

His father shook his head in amusement. Clearly, the boy did not learn that afternoon lesson well enough. "Jaune." The man's voice was exasperated a hint of a smile in his voice. "You have no talent. I've proudly watched all eight of you grow. If you had the talent for aura you would have unlocked it on your own before you were ten. If you had enough usable aura to be a huntsman we would have seen it years ago." The man looked at his son before adding, "Remember when I said I hurt your mother? That is part of it too. Most hunters never had that problem. If you suddenly unlock your aura, you can say goodbye to being able to interact with normal people. Even your sisters…."

Jaune looked down and his shoulders slumped. Nathaniel sighed and patted his son's head. "Please don't say you want to be a huntsman again. There is no worse feeling than the one you feel when you are a burden to the ones you love. And I would never wish that on you."

Jaune allowed his head to be kissed before his father rose and walked back inside. He did not know how long he sat outside. When he finally came back inside, his sister Nuit waved while reading a book. She was the only other person awake. Everyone else had long fallen asleep. Jaune quietly walked to his room.

"Dinner's on the table Jaune."

Jaune sighed. He just wanted tonight to end. "I'm not hungry Newt."

Nuit closed her book. "You're going to eat Jaune." She jumped off her chair and like a good older sister, she took his hand and guided him to the kitchen table. They both sat down and Jaune rolled his eyes. Nuit didn't bring her book with her. That meant she wanted to talk.

"What is it Newt?"

Nuit giggled at the nickname. "You know I don't get mad at you for calling me that anymore." Jaune gave a weak smile. "See? That's better. So what got you all revved up about looking at the future these past few weeks anyway?"

Jaune gave his plate a frown before he took another bite of the cold potatoes. "I wanted to be independent. So when I can, I can go see my friends when I want." Jaune said with a grin. He let it fall off when Nuit did not buy the whole explanation. Jaune pouted into his plate. "Marrone's family moved last week."

Nuit grunted. "I heard. Quite a few families volunteered to move out."

Jaune scowled. "Marrone's family could have stayed if so many people were leaving." He stabbed his fork into his piece of meat and gravy. Around a mouth full of food he grumbled, "It's not like there is a lot of people that live in Anvil."

Nuit sighed and patted her baby brothers' shoulder. "It's just not about people moving out for the sake of leaving town. Anvil is overpopulated. You know the huntsmen had been looking for volunteer families to move off the plateau. Too many people bring grim. Even with how all the settlements are spread out."

"Most of our family moved out too. Aren't they enough?" Jaune grounded out.

"Jaune, you know Amber and Cerus had families, and neither one wanted to raise kids that could run into grim in the front yard. I am relieved they moved to Patch and Vale."

"Did either of them send any letters lately?"

Nuit shook her head. "But! We can write one to them tomorrow. Does that sound like something to do tomorrow or what?"

Jaune smiled at his sister. ''Thanks Nuit." Jaune looked at his plate and didn't realize he ate almost all of it in the few spare minutes. "He didn't even say goodbye." Jaune dropped his fork on his plate and leaned back in his chair.

Nuit laughed. "I think you can blame his parents for that more than him."

Jaune stood up and washed his plate. It was completely dark out with only the moon to illuminate the house. "Thanks for making me eat Nuit. And the talk."

Nuit Stood up from her chair and wrapped her arms around her baby brother. "Any time Jaune." She moved one of her hands while she hugged him to lightly slap the top of his head. "That's for still calling me Newt."

Jaune laughed into her shoulder.

-o-

Jaune was unsure why he was here. The wooden door was heavy when he gave it a push. The old musty smell of dry wood and leather hit his nose when he walked in. Anvil Village had one building as a way house for huntsmen in every settlement. There were always four huntsmen that were assigned for patrols for protection from a grim attack and this house allowed them and other huntsmen who passed by a place to safely rest.

Jaune thought a lot about coming here in the last few weeks. His father said that aura was important for a huntsman. He also said Jaune had no talent for it. But it was the regret in his fathers' voice that stuck with him. Jaune took a long two weeks to come to that realization. It wasn't even his own discovery. It was something April had told him. April wasn't wrong when she said he would probably have tried in earnest for a few days before he gave up and tried to look for something else to do with his life. Which was why he could not explain why he was here.

"Can I help you kid?"

Jaune looked at himself. He was very thin for a thirteen-year-old. All long limbs and big feet. However, he had not been called a kid in a long while. "I was just curious about aura and was hoping you had some time to answer some questions, sir," Jaune said as politely as he knew how.

The man scratched his beard. He looked to his partner who raised a hand and shoulder. The couldn't hurt gesture made the man snort and roll his eyes. "Take a seat kid. How did you even hear about aura?"

Jaune looked at the two and gave a quick, "My father was a huntsman before he retired. I told him I wanted to be one when I found out he used to be one but…"

The two men laughed. "He didn't sound keen on the idea?"

Jaune nodded. He squirmed in his seat at their second round of laughter.

"The names Alex Ver by the way. The man behind me is Lucas Gris. How old are you kid?"

"The name's Jaune, sorry sir. And I am thirteen."

Lucas whistled. "That's late if you were thinking of being a huntsman Jaune. Semblance are usually unlocked around your age. If you don't even have aura you can say goodbye to even thinking about being a huntsman."

Jaune resisted the pain in his chest. He exhaled before he asked, "Why is aura so important?"

"Aura does a lot of things." Alex looked behind him and waved at the bag of rice behind him. He lifted it up easily with one hand and weighed it for a moment before looking at Jaune. "Here, catch."

The bag flew in the air. Juane reached out to catch it in time before it hit the ground. After a split second of holding it firmly, it took him to the ground with a heavy thud. Juane rolled it off him and stood up to give the two an annoyed glare. "That's dangerous! That's really heavy."

"Fifty pounds. That's about the weight of a small beowolf's arm. Not putting any weight for an attack behind it mind you, just its resting weight. Those beasts can weigh nearly nine hundred before we start looking at anything bigger than a full grown adult. You think I lifted that up with just muscle?"

Alex stood up and lifted the bag with ease with one hand and tossed it to Lucas who caught and rest it on the table. "We use aura for strength, recovery, speed, and it gets personalized as you get more experience in the field. You think that was heavy. Imagine a grim with speed and strength behind that sack of rice. That's what we are fighting kid. If you don't have aura, you will get killed even if you were able to defend your self."

Jaune nodded while he stood still. He exhaled and shook his head. "I guess that explains a lot. Thank you."

"You have no aura unlocked?"

Jaune stopped and shook his head. "My father said our family has no talent for it."

Lucas waved the boy over. Jaune reluctantly came up to the redhead. "Let me look at you kid."

At a closer look, the man Lucas had aged wrinkles across his cheeks and eyes. It was a weathered face. Alex looked at him and made him turn his head left and right. After he was done, he shook his head. Jaune resisted the urge to release the cry that was building in his chest.

"Sorry kid. The spirit is willing, but it is not mature. If you were able to unlock your aura now, it would do a lot of damage to you. Maybe in a few years you could unlock it. But by then its way too late to be trained to be a huntsman."

Jaune looked down while hearing the comment. "I see. Thank you sirs for your time." He started walking out the door when Alex asked, "Was it just because your father was a huntsman that got you interested?"

Jaune turned back and quickly shook his head. "I liked the idea of protecting everyone."

The two huntsman exchanged looks before Lucas gave a sympathetic, "There are other jobs that can fulfill that need kid. There's the patrol, bodyguards, you could even go to Vale and be part of the police force there when you get older. It's not just grim people need protecting from. And they don't need aura to do that kind of job." Jaune gave the man a look while he considered the options. "Just saying. Good luck kid."

Jaune smiled at him and nodded. "Thank you sirs."

The two waved him off as he let the door creak shut behind him. He looked to the sun and started walking back home. _What do I do then?_

Jaune tried to rationalize why he was so hung up on being a huntsman, but his dad's voice brought him back to reality. _They are no heroes._

A part of him definitely wanted to be a hero, but the tone his dad said those words haunted him. Jaune absently walked across the street and up the path to his house. The village was lucky. It was established over eighty years ago. The high plateau was over twenty miles wide and as flat as an anvil it was named after. The whole plateau was called Anvil. It was large enough for several settlements and the forest that divided them. Grim would normally scale the steep mountain path while exploring. But the center where his family lived was the safest.

Jaune found his dad quickly and ask with a slight hitch to his voice. "Um, dad? How do I train to become a policeman?"

Nathaniel Arc was both surprised and confused about his son's request. It seemed that his little Jaune really did want to consider doing some kind of job-related to protection. The boy gave him optimistic look with bright blue eyes. Nathaniel sighed before saying. "You really think you want to do this?"

Jaune nodded confidently. It lasted for a total of five seconds before the weight of his fathers' steady look made him wilt. "Is that ok?"

Nathaniel nodded while he thought about it. "I'll tell you what Jaune. If you can stick with a training routine for two weeks and show me you are committed I'll introduce you to the patrolmen here in Anvil. It is a dangerous job. There are no dust weapons, no glory, it is a lot of work and it will hurt. Make no mistakes Jaune. I will hurt you. Do you still want to do this?"

Jaune's nodded eagerly.

Nathaniel sighed as he waved his son over. "I'll train you then. Two weeks Jaune. If you give up or start to waiver I will stop training you."

"Ok dad." Jaune grinned. Jaune felt the energy vibrate in him at the victory.

Nathaniel shook his head at the wide grin his son gave him. The man knew that he had to remedy that look right away. If he allowed his son to keep that smile, the boy would likely not take this seriously. "The first thing we need to do is fix that look."

Jaune did not realize he lost his smile as his eyes rolled in his skull from the blow. When he looked at his father again he looked hurt and confused. Another blow slapped across his head as he glared at his father. Nathaniel knocked him around another time. Jaune resisted the urge to swear. He glared at his father one more time but tried to dodge the incoming slap again. He backed up. The slap had made a large red imprint on his cheek and he was not eager to get another. The caution he took while waiting for his fathers next hit made Nathaniel nod.

"There. That's what I am looking for. That's what I should always see in training."

Jaune didn't smile and didn't like the hits he took to learn the lesson. His wary gaze waited for his fathers' instructions.

-o-

Jaune groaned as he knelt down from the unexpected blow to his abdomen. He rolled on his back and panted while thinking, _what just happened?_ To his right he heard a laugh. "Get up Arc. You wanted this."

"I'm pretty sure I didn't ask for a knee to the gut." He spat out a hoarse cough as he slowly got up.

"Give the kid a break Koben he's just now getting some speed to keep up." Jaune looked over to Andrew. The dirty blonde with the short beard hmm'ed to himself. Jaune wanted to know how he knew what was going on when he was staring at something on the table.

Koben grunted while he tightened the knot that kept his black long hair behind him. "Get some water kid. We'll hit the patrol in a bit after a round in the village. Then we will head out to the branches."

Andrew used a scroll to call someone before he marked something else on the map. Jaune realized it was the grim sightings map. Whatever he heard over the scroll was satisfactory since he nodded and waved to Koben and Juane as he went about his business. Andrew would take the eastern half of the settlements while Juane followed Koben on the western half. Traditionally, the two would go as a pair and visit all of the outlining settlements of Anvil every single day. Jaune swallowed thickly while knowing he was the reason they had to split the work in half.

Jaune got off the barren ground and went to the stall to splash water on his head and chest. He quickly dried himself off before getting his jersey and placed it over his head. Between half-closed eyes and the water that ran down his cheeks and nose, he smiled at himself. The day's training went better than he expected. Andrew said he was getting better and had a good head on his shoulders in a pinch. Lucas observed the training one day and said he might help out if the kid shows that much aptitude for fighting. Juane thanked him while he inwardly grimaced. Three months of training with the patrol allowed Jaune to fully understand why it was so important to have aura outside of the borders and what dust does for hunters. In Anvil, he was sheltered from some of the harder parts of Vale. But now that he was forced to make those trips with the patrol to the outskirt settlements, he truly began to see why aura was necessary for huntsmen, but not for the patrol.

Jaune waved to Koben and their escort. It turned out to be Alex this time, the one that suggested he looked at alternatives to huntsmen training. "Good afternoon Alex. Thank you for the escort."

Alex smiled. "Good to see you are doing well kid. Nice shiner."

Jaune felt the throbbing heat against his cheek and grimaced at the pain when he gave a smile by reflex. His optimism filtered into his voice. "The training is getting better. I can last a few minutes now."

Alex smiled at him and Koben. "Looks like you are both ready. Let's go. We got to make this in thirty minutes." Alex, Koben, and Jaune started at a brisk jog. This was the hardest part of the job for Jaune when he first started. The stamina needed to get to places in a timely manner and still be fit enough to do their job there.

Daylight was just coming over the mountain range. The sun rose a good fist-size from the horizon. That made it mid-morning when they arrived at the village for their patrol. Jaune waved at the few huntsmen who sat on the pasture borders when they ran past. It was rare to get a smile out of them but it was always a cheer to see one that waved back.

This village was just an extension of Anvil. But the patrol had been calling it _The Houses_ for decades. The Houses were a group of homes to house the workers for the farmland and livestock. The houses ranged from dark brown to vibrant red. The one they were going to was the mayor's house. It was a single level white house in the center of town. The building was a wide expanse with brick and mortar walls several feet thick. It was the fall back point for the houses in case of a grim invasion that the huntsmen could not ward off. At the moment, the gates were wide open with a single lookout on the top wall waving them in.

Jaune followed Koben inside while Alex waited outside patiently sitting in the shade of the wide stoop.

"Good morning gentlemen. Nothing to report today. I would ask you send this message to The Grainery. They had asked for hands and we could provide them if we can get additional huntsmen for the escort."

"Yes sir. We will relay the message. Was there anything else before we move along?"

The mayor shook his head and waved them off. Jaune gave a bow to the man before he followed Koben out the door. That was another thing that surprised Jaune. While the patrol was basically the law enforcement out here in the frontier, they fulfilled quite a few roles. Messengers, organizers, law enforcement and directors to civilians in states of emergency. It was a lot of responsibility for just two men. Well, two men and a trainee. When Jaune had first made a comment about it, Koben gave the young man a tight smile.

"It is based on the need. We don't get many visitors to these areas that can lead to additional crime. Most things are from neighbors who tend to let competition get out of hand. And while Andrew and I can handle a huntsman if they get rowdy, we are not the ones that respond to those kinds of problems in Anvil. The huntsmen regulate themselves. Worry about learning how to handle civilians before you can think of what it takes to handle a huntsman."

Jaune did a double take. His voice cracked as he asked, "Y-you can do that?"

Andrew laughed, "Of course. We have had to learn. All it takes is for a huntsmen mind to be in a bad place, and there goes the settlement."

Jaune wondered at that until he heard a story days later how one huntsman was removed from his position in Central because he got too drunk and damaged some property. It got worse when a friend had tried to calm him down and the struggle damaged parts of a bar. His fathers' mantra of 'they are not heroes' rang in his head as he thought of the huntsman who left the town in disgrace.

-o-

When Jaune was told they would finally see the port today, he knew in his mind it wouldn't be something you would have along the water. The plateau was too high for a naval ship. But he did not realize there were bigger parts of Anvil than just the main settlement Central.

"The Port" was an airship dock for merchants that had cargo too large to be escorted up the mountainous path to Anvil. It was also the furthest point of the circle route Jaune had taken for the last month. The length of time it took to reach each check-in station shortened over the months. Finally, all three of patrolmen traveled together. The first time since Jaune started seven months ago. Jaune had in equal turns cringed at the sacrifice Andrew and Koben took for him as well as cheered for his own progress.

Jaune let his body slow as Andrew, Koben, and Lucas stopped. He looked around at the… the settlement was a poor term for the compound that stood in front of him. He had to look up to see the massive metal walls that supported the defense. Koben laughed at his slacked jaw as an airship flew low above them. Jaune looked around while he let his body recover from the sprint.

Koben the all-knowing-trainer had been pushing him hard to go faster and still keep a good amount of stamina in reserve. Jaune looked enviously at Koben and Andrew. Neither one even looked winded by the run from The Grainery. The group walked in and Andrew slapped Jaunes' shoulder hard as he found the man he was looking for. The man was tall with short well kept brown hair and wearing a military blue uniform.

"This is Jaune. He is learning to be a patrolman. Jaune, this is Avery, head security from Vale Aviation Security. He's responsible for the ships that come to and from the port. If you need to know anything about the port you can always ask him."

Jaune nodded while he noticed the annoyed look Avery gave Andrew. Jaune smarted himself up by standing straight and extending his had. "Thank you sir. It is a pleasure to meet you. I'll be sure to schedule an appointment if I do have any questions. You must be busy here."

Avery rolled his eyes over Jaunes shoulder to Koben and Andrew. He looked to Jaune and shook the teen's hand. "Hopefully the next time we speak it will be for something just as mundane as your introduction rather than an investigation. It was nice meeting you Jaune. Excuse me Patrolmen,"

Avery walked away as he called out for someone on one of the catwalks.

"Look Jaune, you made a friend. He is usually more surly. Good job introducing your self too. If you hadn't been so nice he could have been difficult to work with down the road."

Jaune grumbled out in a near whine just as his voice betrayed him with a squeak, "You didn't think to tell me this earlier?" Behind the group, their huntsman escort started laughing. "Laugh now Lucas, I will get you back eventually."

"Sorry kid. Your voice is comedic gold. Going to miss it when it doesn't pitch anymore." Jaune turned away and glared at the air in front of him.

"Let's go boys. We are heading back to Central. That was the full route Jaune. Think you can keep this pace?"

Jaune nodded. "It was not as bad as I thought it would be. I am happy that you all didn't make me do this amount of running when we first started."

"We are not that dumb. We would never get anything done if we tried. Let's go. It should take an hour to get back to Anvil proper at your pace."

Jaune snarled at the comment. But it was true. Jaune had gotten much faster at running from place to place. He was by far the fastest kid he knew. But Jaune understood he was still the slowest of the three. It took him months to even reach this pace. He was eager to get as fast as the other two patrolmen as soon as possible.

The gates shut behind them with a loud metallic screech. Jaune looked back at the gates before he noticed that the others had started to jog. He knew they were doing it on purpose to get him moving. Sure enough, as soon as he caught up, the pace picked up faster. Jaune wanted to say it was a little too fast. He could feel himself wearing down quickly if this was the pace for the whole hour. After a few minutes, the pace slowed slightly for which he was grateful. Jaune let his mind wander as the pace remained steady.

-o-

Weeks flew into months until Jaune realized it had been almost a year with the patrol. He had long stopped going to school and was forced to read independently at home. While his mother was happy to hear he chose a career path it did not allow him to slack on learning about the world outside of Anvil. At least Nuit was happy for a reading partner.

Jaune forced to refocus at the command: "Left, down, withdraw!" Jaune raised his left fist to punch, lowered his right to block before he kicked back to give himself some room.

"Good job Jaune. Looks like you got it. Now let's see how well you can pull that off in combat." Jaune laughed as he raised his left to block the incoming heavy fist. He twisted and punched with his left. Jaune looked at Andrew and realized he was about to push in if he tried to retreat.

Jaune repressed a smile when, instead of using his leg to kick back away from his trainer, he raised it slightly higher to kick out Andrew's leg that broke his stance and punched a hard one right to Andrew's left cheek.

Laughter exploded behind Jaune just as Andrew went down to the ground. "You sneaky shit." Andrew laughed as he sat up and rubbed his face. Koben laughed harder from the gate.

"Well, its time to head out again. This time there is no safety net Jaune."

Jaune's smile faded before he nodded. A bead of sweat rolled off his forehead. Jaune quietly grabbed his pack and made sure his shoes were tied tight. Jaune appreciated that all three of them were going this time for his first true run.

"Let's go kid. Remember, never stop running. Keep energy in reserve to make sure you can push it. I guarantee you, now that a huntsman is no longer following us, you will see grim."

Jaune nodded. His throat dry.

"Let's go!"

Jaune couldn't help but think how crazy it sounded to him when he first started the patrol. Hunters rarely worked with the patrol in Anvil. It had confused him first why the patrol only trained in hand to hand combat and never wore armor. At first, it made sense. They had said at most they would only resolve civilian conflicts. After running alongside them for the very first time, he had asked how they protected themselves from grim when they went to and from different parts of Anvil. While the whole area was relatively safe, there was a reason why there were so many huntsmen around to protect the settlements. He blinked and staggered when he was told the truth. Andrew's solemn smile forever stitched in his mind when he gave Jaune the answer.

 _We don't._

Juane took off in a run alongside Koben and Andrew. Against the grim, they would see between settlements the thin blue cloth jersey offered no protection. The patrol had only one defense against the grim.

Speed.

Jaune allowed the landscape to pass him by at a steady pace. It was a little faster than what he was used to, but they had warned him that it would be. The same thirty five minute jog when he first started was only supposed to take nine. Jaune made it in fifteen. The teen exhaled as they slowed at the entrance to The Houses. Andrew waved at the pair of guards before he went ahead.

Koben turned to find a flush teenager who made a valiant attempt not to bend over in gasps. Jaune's mentor laughed. "Drink a few slow sips of water Jaune. The first run is always the hardest." Jaune nodded while he closed his eyes and resisting the urge to lean over to help breathe. Koben looked over at Andrew who waved at the pair as he walked out. "Looks like it was a quick one, sorry Jaune. Let's keep moving. Next trip is the shortest at least."

Jaune nodded as he put his canteen away. He followed Koben as he let his body move as it was trained to. The miles flew by in a blur. Then they reached The Grainery. The next four stops: The Halls, The Port, Central, and The Market all were equal parts exhilarating and exhausting without a huntsman with them. The patrol through the settlements was normal. More normal than he expected it to be if he was honest with himself. But the lack of a huntsman by his side really nailed home how dangerous the job actually was. Andrew told him people do die from the grim. Huntsmen were too expensive for a town to hire as police, patrol, and any other form of job the patrol fulfilled.

Jaune exhaled as he fully recovered his breath. _But if you wanted to protect anyone without aura, this was the only option._ Jaune heard Koben call for them. It forced him to snap back his attention. Jaune quickly sprinted to catch up before the three ran to their final stop before going home.

"Sorry Jaune looks like we have to go back to The Houses. One of the maids passed away. Looks like natural causes."

Jaune looked up, "Do we usually investigate deaths like this?"

Andrew answered for Koben. "Any time someone passes away we need to go and report it for the records. It also allows us to get a firsthand account of how the body was found in case something comes up later that is serious." The teen felt the hairs stand at attention the whole way back.

-o-

Jaune was thankful that he did not go see the body. Koben graciously volunteered to go on his own. Jaune followed Andrew like a good shadow and wrote down the notes in the appropriate sheets of paper.

The woman was just over fifty. Not old for by any standard, but she was a former soldier in Vales' Army who had been injured by a sword to the lung right next to her heart. The wound never fully healed and her heart finally gave out from the thirty-year-old injury. Jaune reviewed the form. He nodded now that everything was in order. He presented it to Andrew who gave it his approval before Jaune tucked them back in his folder in his single over the shoulder bag. He made sure it was secured before he waved at Andrew to let him know he was ready.

This was only the eighth investigation Jaune had participated in. Most issues were requests. Most incidents occurred at night at bars' or domestic issues. He thankfully was not expected to help with those yet. That would require him being able to run to settlements on his own.

Koben joined them a few minutes later. "We'll have our review meeting when we get back. That's it for the day. Let's head home."

Jaune sighed in agreement. The Houses was the closest point to Central Anvil. The run would barely be fifteen minutes.

Seven minutes away from Anvil, Andrew called out, "Incoming!"

Jaune exhaled as he suddenly burst into a sprint. If Jaune was honest with himself he was praying that he wouldn't hear that call today. He almost got it too. Jaune moved his head away from a branch that he ran past. His heart hammered in his ears. Behind him, he heard the squeals that signaled it was a boarbatusk, a warthog like grim. The blonde teen repressed a near whine. _Of course, it had to be one of the fastest types of grim for my first time._ The boarbatusk squealed again. Jaune filed the sound away for later. The noise was deeper than the ones he had seen Alex and Lucas kill.

Jaune stopped thinking about it for now. He knew the rules. He was not expected to slow down now that he started to sprint. Andrew ran ahead and Koben slowed slightly to be behind their trainee. "We're taking the shortcut!" Jaune wheezed out a grunt at Andrew's command. The ravine was a steep crack that marked part of the valley below them. Jaune had been reluctant to jump it for months effectively adding fifteen minutes to their run. He had only felt confident jumping it in the last month.

Jaunes' lungs burned as he used every technique he learned to keep his breath steady and to not let panic set in. He constantly looked around yards ahead of him through the foliage in case he was able to spot something he would need to avoid. Jaune jumped high and long. The tips of his shoes were just barely within his vision as he jumped over a massive fallen tree he had expected to see. It was a fifty-foot long trunk that he used as a marker. It was a sign he was close to the central settlement. His stamina wasn't infinite but he felt he had enough for a little more of a push. His legs began to numb and throb. The squeal was suddenly louder. Jaune ignored the panic as his legs begged him to slow. Tree branches and leaves roared in his ears as he passed by. Jaune was sure he heard a deep squeal and something snapping and cracking behind him. A single branch ripped across his cheek as he ran a little too close. Jaune ignored the wet sensation on his face.

 _The ravine should be coming up._ Jaune thought to himself in a detached voice.

Jaune stomped hard on a tree trunk to help him ascend. He kicked and pushed with his left hand and leg to clear the ravine that had followed. His legs tucked underneath him as he spread his arms out to balance himself in the air. It was the first time he never noticed the valley below or what could happen if he missed the jump. He could no longer hear the pants of his friends nor his own breath. Just the sounds of the grim and the wind that flooded out the noise that seemed to echo off the walls of the ravine.

Jaune landed right after Andrew and did not allow himself to slow until he was at the gates. The squeals of the grim and the ravine that separated them were left far behind. Jaune slid to a stop at the check-in station at the gate. Andrew and Koben both took three quick steps to slow themselves. Jaune was annoyed how they seemed so calm and NOT sweating and panting. The teen allowed himself to just bend over to keep gasping for air. After what seemed like ages but in reality was only a few minutes they were safe.

Jaune opened one eye and felt the sting of sweat hit it. "That one sounded a lot bigger than the ones I remember."

Andrew and Koben shared a serious glance. They noticed it too. Andrew answered, "It was probably the one we had reports about. But it was closer to central than I thought it should be. Good job on the run Jaune. Good thing you were so slow, we never would have noticed it if we were going at a full pace." Jaune didn't have the energy to scowl at the teasing tone. He just waved the man off. Andrew looked to Koben. "Go ahead and head back to the office. I'll speak to Lucas to update the location."

"When we get back Jaune, I want you to run two more laps to cool your body down. Then come inside. We can eat our lunch while I go over some of the things you missed while you were catching your breath." Juane reddened at his lack of attention. He was beginning to zone out from the exhaustion. His idea of skipping lunch to get through the day faster was also beginning to backfire on him as well. All Jaune could do was think about food. He was hungry after the exhilarating feeling at being chased by a grim. His stomach protested as he just walked the final lap. Now that he began to recover his energy he noticed no one was around. He grinned widely to himself.

"That was the coolest thing ever. I totally outran a grim." He stretched his arms over his body he walked inside.

-o-

That night Jaune stumbled into the house and dropped his weight unceremoniously on the couch. He grunted at the impact. Which caused a giggle from another room. He recognized the laugh. "Hi Nuit. Don't suppose mom made dinner yet?" The question was accompanied by a grumble by his stomach.

"It was ready an hour ago. You are late." Jaune grunted but felt unwilling to move to the dining room.

"Finally did the full route today. Stayed late to go over complaints about a couple of new workers at the port." He shared while not thinking about the incident with the woman who passed away.

Nuit was always curious at what he did when he gave up going to school. Nuit was only a year older than her baby brother. But she felt as concerned as the other girls about him. "You have been doing this for a while now. You think you will go the distance with it?"

Jaune laughed at the pain in his legs. "I hope so or this really was a stupid idea." Jaune felt his body protest with a groan as he sat up and got off the couch.

After dinner Jaune stood silently in the shower. The hot water allowed his muscles to finally relax. He was safe at home. But that grim was still out there.

 _The huntsmen will take care of it. But that first sound of the cracking wood before we ran... The wood had to have been thick for that kind of sound._ Jaune did not even try to look for the grim. He just ran. And listened. The rhythmic clopping of its hooves seemed like it was right on its tail. But he knew that was wasn't right too. Andrew and Koben were with him in a line while he was in the center. It was a gesture he greatly appreciated that they would protect him like that.

 _When did it feel like it was the boarbatusk was right on my heels then?_ He definitely felt it. It was like a roaring sound that shook the leaves…

Jaune looked up and turned off the shower. He was still wet but didn't bother trying to dry himself off. He simply put on his pants and shoes and was almost out the door.

"Jaune? Hey- where are you going dressed like that?" His mother started to ask annoyed before she really looked at her son.

Jaune stopped and stared at her before he said, "Get dad. Tell him to lock up and keep everyone inside. He should get his sword and stay at the house. I don't know when I'll be back." Jaune's mother tried to stop him one more time but he was already out the door and running at full sprint.

Jaune actually never figured out how fast he ran compared to the other patrolmen but the despair he felt cut his trip to central by minutes. His teeth chattered and his shoulders were cold but drying in the wind. _I should have realized it sooner._ Jaune cursed himself for not grabbing a shirt. He spotted the guards who readied weapons at seeing someone coming to the gates quickly. They relaxed when they recognized him.

Jaune slowed and yelled out, "Open the gates and close them when I get in. It's urgent!"

The guards didn't question the command. Even if he is a trainee, he is a patrolman. Jaune never thanked anyone before for the authority but he wanted to thank Koben and Andrew up and down as the guards obeyed. When he got to the patrolmen office he nearly ran into the closed door and closed his eyes. "I don't know where either of them live."

Jaune turned and sprinted down the empty streets. It was well into the late evening when he banged on the huntsman's door. There were a few bouts of laughter that instantly stopped as a huntsman Jaune had never seen before opened the door. He looked alarmed when he saw the blonde shirtless teen.

"Whats wrong kid?"

"Is Lucas here?" Jaune said around several slow breathes.

"Lucas!" The man shouted over his shoulder.

The redhead looked up and walked over quickly. "What's wrong Jaune?"

"Sorry, I would have reported this to Andrew or Koben but I don't know where they live. But Andrew reported to you about the boarbatusk we ran into right?" Lucas brought him in and nodded. He waved at someone and they threw a towel at him. He quickly put it around the teens shivering shoulders.

"Go on son." Several huntsmen started circling around him as he took a seat.

"We knew it was a large boarbatusk that started to chase us. But after reviewing it all I realized there was another big one there as well." The group quieted as others started to realize the kid was saying something important. "We cleared a torn down tree we used as a marker before we made the ravine shortcut. But the boarbatusk kept following us. I heard no breaking of wood or weighted thud I should have expected if it tried to plow through or jump over. There was one we disturbed on the other side of the tree we jumped over."

Lucas waved over another huntsman, "Update the report. If they are both the same size we'll make the hunting party larger. Thanks for letting us know Jaune. It helped we found this out before the morning search-and-destroy." He patted the teen's shoulder for the job well done. He almost missed the quiet hitched voice.

"There must have been more in the ravine."

Lucas gripped the boy's shoulder. "Say that again Jaune?"

Jaune looked up with his breath fully recovered. "I think there were more in the ravine." He said in a stronger voice. "When we jumped over, the sounds of the grim should have been drowned out by the wind. We were jumping into the wind. It's why the jump to central is so much harder than the jump to the houses. But I could still hear the boarbatusk but it sounded like it had a different pitch."

Behind him, Jaune heard, "Gods if they are in the ravine, they could be taking the long way around to get to the plateau."

"Team Sparrow, Team Gold, do the reconnaissance. Gold look to see how many mouths of the ravine open to the plateau. Sparrow, look for the jumping point and see if Jill can see anything below. Team Cerulean, inform the guards and light the signals to the other settlements to keep alert tonight. Alex!"

"I'm here. What do you want me to do?" Jaune looked at Alex, the only other huntsman he knew.

"I want you to speak to Koben and Andrew separately. Don't let them know what Jaune observed. We need clear independent accounts. Have them come here as you interview them. Fill them in on what Jaune observed only after you interviewed them."

"Got it."

The room was quickly emptied leaving Juane alone with Lucas. Jaune looked down on the floor. "I should have noticed sooner…"

"You are certain about what you heard, aren't you?" The man passed the teen a glass of water.

Jaune looked up surprised. "I am-. I am… I just didn't think about it. I was just really happy about the first run."

Lucas smiled happily to let the kid stay distracted. "So today was the day? I wasn't sure and never asked Alex if he went with you all. But of course he didn't if you three had to run. If you are right about this, we will owe you a great thanks for informing us."

"But I could still be wrong…" Jaune bit his lip. He had not even thought he could be wrong. There was such a dead certainty in his memories about it all.

"If you are wrong, the worst we would do was make fun of you for a week. No harm done. It would be just as if we ran a drill for emergencies. We actually do them more often than you think. This time we have the benefit of it being while we were fully awake and alert." Lucas gave the teen a wink. Jaune smiled and nodded his thanks for cheering him up. Lucas stood with a grunt and stretched.

"We'll find out soon Jaune. Get some rest. You may need it tonight."

Jaune grunted an agreement before he took a sip of water. His body was slightly shivering. But the fireplace was slowly warming his body.

The door opened some time later. Koben was the first to enter. Andrew followed and looked to Jaune before tossing his trainee the blue worn jersey. "Get that on. Good job on noticing the details."

Jaune felt a bit of something in his chest. He was not sure if it was a good or bad thing. "So you heard it too?" Jaune felt desperate to know if he was right or wrong. He did not want to be right. But he would feel very bad for wasting everyone's time if he was wrong.

"I did Jaune." Jaune looked over to Koben when he spoke. "I didn't even think about the wind. It was so routine to jump that ravine I did not even notice the sounds as we jumped over."

The four stood by while they waited for any of the huntsmen to report. Alex walked in and whispered something to Lucas. "Patrolmen. We may have to go help out the other huntsmen as well. If we do. This settlement will only have the volunteer militia as its guards."

Andrew gave a grunt. "I figured that might be the case this late at night. There is no way to coordinate with the other huntsmen from the other settlements. Do what you think you need to do Lucas."

Several more minutes passed before there was a beep from Lucas. He pulled out a scroll. "Report Sparrow."

The scroll static barely made the connection usable. But around the static Jaune heard, "We didn't even need a visual. We could hear them as we approached the ravine. We spotted just over thirty boarbatusks so far and they are still coming. We can't say for sure how many have been going on and for how long though if it's been steady since this afternoon we looking at a few hundred. They are headed south along the central side of the ravine. It closes off for us up here at that point but there must be a cave somewhere that they are funneling into."

"Good work. Fall back to Central. I will have Gold meet you at the entrance to form a hunting party. If they are this active at night we can't afford to wait till tomorrow morning. I'll be out there shortly.' Lucas closed the scroll and grabbed a slender spear from the wall. He looked at the patrol. 'I'll need you all to secure the settlements. This looks like its a migration and we are right in the middle of it."

"Just informing the port is enough for them. I'll organize the civilians in The Halls and the Market." Koben volunteered.

"That leaves me The Grainery and The Houses." Andrew rolled his eyes at being volunteered the path with the two large grim.

"You be careful Andrew." Koben said harshly.

"I'll be fine. I'm far faster than you are. Which was why I was going to volunteer to do those anyway. Who knows, if I can get a few huntsmen in on it. Maybe the big ones will come to us and we can kill them too." he said already thinking about the large grim they ran from earlier.

Jaune stood up and looked at them both. "What should I do?"

All three of them gave the teen a serious look. Koben answered for them. "You are taking responsibility of the largest settlement. That's here in Central. Inform the guards to evacuate the civilians and fall back to the central base. Make sure everyone is accounted for before you shut those gates. There is an active scroll in the building in the main office. Keep it on you."

Jaune looked wide-eyed in a panic. "I don't even know how those work."

Lucas laughed as he walked out. "That's what you're panicking about? You'll be fine. Get going Patrolmen. We will do our best to find the migration and clear them out."

Jaune followed his mentors out and ran to the main gates. The guards already knew something was going on by the amount of activity. When they spotted his jersey he slowed to meet them halfway. "Guardsmen sound the alarm. We are pulling all civilians to central base. All huntsmen have their assignments. It's just us now."

The flurry of activity happened at once. The alarm blared like a horn throughout the settlement. Jaune let the guardsmen do their job while he ran to the houses and started pointing at guards. "You have authorization to enter houses to make sure all civilians are cleared. Once cleared, mark each house and move on." Jaune recited from memory.

The guards saluted as they started to fan out and escort and direct civilians to the center of town. Jaune looked over to the civilians in a loud voice that nearly cracked, "We will explain what is going on as soon as we get everyone safe and accounted for. Please spread that along to the other families."

Several people who had been ready to ask questions nodded after looking at the jersey. As houses were marked with a yellow cross, the search zone for civilians began to shrink. Jaune quickly found the man he was looking for. Sergeant Milo was a man just entering his thirties with crew cut hair. His black uniform was absent this late at night. Jaune patted sergeant Milo's shoulder, "I need to get a scroll to keep in touch with the huntsmen and my team. I'll be back shortly."

"Very well." The sergeant shouted a few orders while Jaune ran off to the central building. In hindsight, he should have grabbed the scroll sooner.

-o-

Nathaniel stood on the porch. The lights were out in the house and his wife stood near the window anxiously trying to keep calm and read. His four girls that still had not moved out of the house were blissfully unaware what their brother told their mother.

Jaune's father closed his eyes and let his senses spread. There were no grim around. His sword sat at side. The weight was a strange sensation after so long. He has only wielded a hammer in the last two decades. Nathaniel opened his eyes as he heard the signal. "That's what I was waiting for."

Several miles away at the central wall, the blare of the emergency horn started. Nathaniel turned to his wife. "Allison, get the girls. Tell them to grab a blanket and pillow. We'll go to the forge together. It will be the best place to mask our presence."

The girls quickly came down the stairs. Once everyone was together, Nathaniel placed a hand on his hilt and walked out with the girls. He sensed no grim but he did not let himself relax. The family moved around to the back where the brick and metal shack. Nathaniel made sure the furnace was started and fanned it.

"It's really hot here dad."

Nathaniel turned to Amber. "That's the idea. Grim have a hard time picking out details in the heat. If any come by, they should not be able to see us here."

Nuit sleepily asked, "Where is Jaune?"

All of the sisters became awake at the realization that their brother was missing. Nathaniel sighed. "He's doing his job. Go to sleep girls. I'll be watching over you." He kissed each girl and hugged his wife. The girls took some time to try and sleep. It came to them eventually thanks to the heat of the room.

Nathaniel Arc gave a thankful smile to his family before he stepped to the door. He let his hand rest on his pommel and watched field in front of him. And waited.

-o-

The mass of people were slowly guided into the three-level building. Jaune has been in the base before and knew there were other lower levels. That was where the civilians were being guided to.

The building was surrounded by four grand walls as a defensive perimeter. It was by far the thickest walls anywhere in Anvil. A few guards were already stationed along the wall as lookouts. Jaune wished these kinds of walls were around all the settlements. But that was never an affordable option. The best anyone could muster were just the wooden walls from tree trunks that were more than enough to protect the settlement from people and maybe deter a single grim that ran against it. But not the numbers of grim they had reported. Jaune stopped at the entrance where civilians were entering and waved at a guardsman.

"Any problems so far?"

Jaune noticed the guard was about to say something unflattering before he caught himself and spotted the jersey Jaune wore. "Nothing sir. A few disgruntled adults and crying children. But everyone seems to have taken it in stride."

"The sweeping teams are almost done clearing the houses. I'll be right back out." The teen stepped inside around several families.

Jaune was now very glad the jersey stuck out like a sore thumb. Civilians gave him room as he walked about and straight to the main office. He found the scroll on the desk and opened it. He's seen Alex use one a few times but never thought much of it until now. He found out how to open it. But he did not see any tell-tale signs someone had tried to reach him yet. Maybe it was just too soon. He closed and tucked it in his pocket before he moved back outside.

The air had cooled considerably. He looked around the nearest guard. "Any word from the sergeant?"

"Yes sir. They completed the search and the guards are escorting the last of the civilians inside. He is with a few men to do one final sweep."

Jaune thanked the man before he stepped outside and started to sprint to the civilian houses. The run back took no time now that most of the families were now inside. Several guards were at a few doors of some houses before they walked to meet the rest of the group.

"Is that the last of them?" Jaune asked while he looked at the block. The neighborhood looked dead with no lights.

"That was all of them. We are moving to the compound now."

"Get inside. I'll order the main perimeter to fall back as well. Meet me in the head office." Jaune ordered. "I'll address the civilians myself."

Jaune saw the men off before he turned to the main gates. His legs carried him across the settlement in mere moments. The men waved at him from the wall. Jaune looked up to them, "Have you seen any signals from the other settlements?"

The man on top shouted back, "Nothing to be alarmed by. Two have already fallen back to their shelters."

"Signal the settlements that we are falling back now too." Louder to the few guards standing along the wall, "All guards are ordered to fall back and reinforce central base. Pass it down the perimeter. No one should be on these walls when the gates close."

The guards instantly passed the message along before they slid down the wall.

"Sir?"

Jaune looked up to the man that spoke to him. The guard was easily a foot taller than him. "Yes guardsmen?"

"Was everyone accounted for?"

Jaune remembered that the guards were just a volunteer militia. Being a guard wasn't anyone's dedicated job. "As far as I know. The sergeant personally led the evacuation. When you get inside you are welcome to go find your family." Jaune resisted the urge to think of his own family. His father was a huntsman. They should be fine. Their house was far from any of the settlements and had its own defensive walls as a result of it.

Jaune stopped the last guard, "How long ago did the huntsmen take off?"

The last guard looked at his watch. "Maybe three hours ago."

Jaune exhaled. He still had not heard anything from the scroll. He followed the man to the compound and went straight to the office.

"Sergeant." Jaune greeted.

"Patrolman. The intercom is up running and waiting for you."

"Thank you sir."

The older man nodded respectfully. "Thank _you._ "

Jaune reluctantly picked up the microphone. He exhaled. _Please don't crack voice._

"Good evening, my name is Jaune Arc, Patrolman for Anvil. Earlier this evening several large boarbatusks were spotted between The Houses and Central. Further investigation discovered a migration of boarbatusk traveling below the plateau and moving during the night." Jaune paused as he felt the buzz from his pocket. He opened it and saw Alex face look at him. He quickly closed the announcement, "Without knowing for sure if they found a way onto the plateau emergency procedures were enacted to ensure the safety of Anvil. All huntsmen were dispatched to lead any discovered migration away from the settlements to be safely eliminated. Sergeant Milo will ask for volunteers to keep a rotating watch for the night. Please stand by."

Jaune closed the line. Milo took it, "Thank you Jaune. I can take it from here. See what they need."

Jaune smiled thanks before walking out and looked at the scroll. "What's going on?"

Alex smiled through the static in the connection. "Nice speech. But we did find the boarbatusk migration. The two large ones you found? They were digging tunnels. That's how those two got up here. The little ones weren't able to climb the same way as the larger ones so they are digging out the holes to make it easier for them to go up now. We cut them off and are still fighting them. But we are relaying the update to all settlements. How are you holding up?"

Jaune exhaled. "I am so glad I didn't have to look at anyone when I said all that."

"You did good Jaune. Your job is done. Keep the scroll, we'll be in touch." The line went dead and Jaune felt the exhaustion set in.

He walked out and joined the guards on the wall. The air was dead quiet with the walls cutting off most of the noise behind him. A few people spoke in hushed tones. A few bits of laughter exchanged between some of the men to keep themselves optimistic. Jaune smiled at them as he walked by.

Jaune sat on a chair and leaned back. His eyes scanned the town wall a half mile away. Out loud to the nearest guard he said, "I feel like I'm about to fall asleep. Wake me up when the next rotation happens will ya?"

The man looked at him surprised. He laughed out when he realized Juane was serious, "How the hell can you sleep up here? But I will. Get some sleep."

Jaune smiled as he let himself doze.

-o-

Jaune awoke and looked around. The same guard was still next to him. Jaune stood up and stretched absently wiping his face of the slight trail of drool from his mouth. _Really hope no one saw that._

Jaune looked around trying to find out exactly why he woke up. "Anything happen while I was asleep?"

The man shook his head. "You been asleep for about an hour or so. But it's been dead quiet. I think everyone inside finally fell asleep too."

Jaune nodded while he looked to the settlement walls. He looked to his side and looked at the others who had stood watch. They were all quiet and speaking in whispers. He knew his job was officially done when the whole of the populace filed into the base. But he felt he should still be up here. He opened the scroll but no one had left any messages. _Are they still fighting this late?_

Either there were more grim than they expected or the night was actually playing a bigger factor than he thought. He put the scroll away and watched the line of the outer walls. They were still up and there would have been noise if they had been pushed through…

Jaune put his hand to his face.

"Alert the line and have flares prepared to deploy," Jaune ordered the man. The guard looked at him surprised. "Trust me. You can all laugh at me tomorrow morning if I'm wrong. Don't have them light just yet. Get a double row of guards up first with guns." Jaune saw the man get ready to call the order to someone below him. He grabbed the mans arm to interrupt him. "And do it quietly."

There was shuffling around him but he just looked into the darkened town. He could not hear anything from the emptied streets. Eventually Sergeant Milo stood next to him. "You think you saw something."

Jaune shook his head and exhaled. "Something that Alex said bothered me now that I thought about it. The huntsmen should have finished ages ago. Or made contact."

Milo frowned. "You think?" he gestured they may have died.

Jaune shook his head. "No, but what if they had problems rounding them all up? The two big ones we saw were smart enough to tunnel up here from the base. The other boarbatusks probably just followed their lead. Who's to say they didn't tunnel everywhere? But the big ones? They were spotted up here near Central. It wouldn't take long for them to reach any settlements. They decided to come up here for a purpose. And they feed off emotions. So why haven't we heard about them at all since we started the evacuation when civilian distress would be at its highest? Surely one of the settlements would have signaled that they found something and it had been taken care of. And why have they not come to us? We have the largest mass of emotions in Anvil."

Jaune and Milo waited until everyone was lined up along the walls. Jaune raised his fist for the flares. "I really hope I'm wrong. But what if the two large ones didn't just dig up to the plateau but were digging around our walls?"

Jaune lowered his hand. The _fzz_ of dust flares lit the sky in bright white and yellow light. Jaune looked below him to the left and right before he exhaled. Below him and far near the corner sat two massive boarbatusks carefully digging against the wall. They had already dug up deep into the earth. They looked up and roared a deep ear-piercing squeal before they both started digging, no longer worried about stealth. "Take aim and fire at will. We can't let them get burrowed too far into the ground or the walls will be breached!"

Among the fire, Jaune opened his scroll and tried to contact Alex but received nothing but static. He swallowed the lump in his throat before he looked to Milo. "How do we send a message to the other settlements?"

"I have someone waiting on standby on the top floor." Milo turned and waved at the highest floor. A signal light turned and prepared itself to send a sequence to the other settlements.

"Have them point the light in that direction." Jaune pointed to the forest just south-west of them. "The ravine ends near there and the huntsmen are likely fighting out in the open. Maybe one of them can peel away to help us."

Jaune put a foot on the edge of the wall and looked down. It was a twenty-foot drop. But it wasn't as bad as some of the jumps he made while running.

Milo looked where he was going. "What are you doing!" He asked in alarm.

"Get that signal out. I can draw them away for a bit but I can't outrun them forever. Your gunmen's guns aren't strong enough to pierce that armor. Better one person dies than over a thousand." Jaune jumped and landed a good distance away from the grim.

"That crazy son of a bitch." Milo turned and waved several times in sequence and pointed in the direction Jaune spoke of first. They needed a huntsman now.

Now that Jaune saw them clearly, he instantly regretted jumping down. He had vastly underestimated how large they were. Both boarbatusks turned and snorted heated puffs of breath as they pulled out of their tunnels. Each grim was larger than a two horse-drawn carriage. The snout of one of them was as high as his shoulder. The thick white armor didn't just cover their face but covered parts of their back and tail. Thick tusks curled in two wide circles that widened to pointed ends. They both stopped digging and ignored the pings for the gunfire to look at him and squeal a terrifying screech.

Jaune felt he did what any sensible human being would do. He screamed like a little girl and ran. The two boarbatusks started to chase after with loud clopping steps behind him.

-o-

In the open field, several huntsmen were looking at the ground before they landed their pikes deep into the earth. Most of the grim had been killed but there were still quite a few who were still tunneling and had yet to reach the surface.

"Get ready to make another rotation. You guys need a br-" Alex looked up. Several hunters paused to see the sequence of flashing lights. "Oh no. That's Central."

Lucas dug up another grim and killed it before its tunnel collapsed, "Gold team swap out with Green. Green, they are signaling two grim. It might be the ones we were expecting to see tomorrow."

"Got it, let's go ladies!" The man shouted over his shoulder before his team started running towards the settlement.

-o-

Jaune panted as he jumped over a cart. The cart exploded in wooden blades that hit his back. He ignored the pain. Again like last time, he didn't look back. So long as he heard the two sets of clops he was fine. He saw the street was going to go into an abrupt 'T' intersection and nearly ran up the wall as he made his sharp turn. One of the boarbutusk skid and rammed into the building and crumpled the wall. It shook its head and followed its partner after him.

"Ug this is going to get expensive." Jaune remembered there was another 'T' Intersection down the road. He passed it but not before he noticed the wall was a large glass window looking into a restaurant. "Sorry Phil but I need your restaurant." Jaune slowed as he realized he was out running the boarbutusk pair. When they began to match his pace, he led them again through a large circle back to the intersection. Jaune glanced at the street and sped up. The boarbatusk blindly increased their speed.

Jaune whimpered out. "Please forgive me!" Jaune used a window sill just before he entered the intersection and jumped.

Jaune grabbed the roof and crawled up just before the building shook and an ear-piercing squeal of rage echoed in the building. "I'm up here!" Jaune started stomping on the roof and the roof shook. Jaune gasped as one of the Boarbatusk jumped out of the building while the other one hit the last support beam. Jaune felt the roof flex and he jumped off to the next building. The roof collapsed in a cloud of dirt.

Jaune rolled off his back and surveyed the damage. "I really liked that place." He murmured to himself. The rubble shook and the boarbatusk rose on unsteady feet. Jaune looked at the other one. It snorted and shook its head while it paced back and forth. Jaune shook his finger while he caught his breath. "You… You knew…"

Jaune let that fact wash over him while he tried to think what to do next. Both boarbatusks snorted at him while he stood on the roof. The smart one squealed and the pair started running.

"No, no, nonono! You are not going back to central base." Jaune jumped down and threw a piece of a chair at the two. It didn't even reach them as they ran but the clatter got their attention. "I am right here!" He snarled.

The two boarbatusk turned and started running after him. Jaune turned and ran but quickly noticed a problem. The clops were out of sync. He looked over his shoulder and realized the smart one was running at the same pace, but the other one was slower now. "Ok. Now what do I do?"

Jaune wracked his brain while he thought about the guards at the wall. Their weapons were barely effective on smaller grim. The armor on these guys was to thick. "Think think think, what can I use to slow these guys down?"

Jaune ran through town. The slower one squealed and parted from the smart one. Jaune only noticed from the sudden absence of any clops. Jaune turned in time to see that the smart one slowed to a stop before it turned. "Shit. I moved to far away from the base!" Jaune turned and chased after the smart one. He quickly caught up and ran along the smart Boarbatusk. "I'm right here asshole."

The grim ignored him. It only increased its speed to the central base walls. Jaune swore and slowed. He looked around. "How am I going to get them to come after me again?"

Jaune ran back to the Huntsman shelter and barged in. He ran through the counter walls and found an empty weapons wrack with only a single lonely plain spear with a barbed tip. He grabbed it and a bag of dust canisters he hoped still had dust in them.

The teen cleared the shelter and ran in an all-out sprint. Several powerful steps onto carts and window ledges got him on a roof. Jaune sprinted and leapt across streets. _I just need to make it in time._

Jaune jumped off a chimney and threw his legs forward to clear a house roof in a single jump before he pushed off again to speed himself further.

-o-

Milo stood on the roof with the communication team. Spotlights were lifted from the building and pushed out to illuminate the wall and the field around them. "Is this all we got?"

Someone behind him manning the signal lights answered, "Yeah. Unfortunately, there are no bigger weapons. The Port is readying an airship to bring in some artillery but they are waiting for clearance from Vale."

Milo scowled but nodded. The squeals made him flinch. The two boarbatusk walked out from the empty streets each nearly as tall as the surrounding buildings. "Jaune…"

Milo looked over the wall. "Get ready to concentrate fire. The one on the left first. We need t-"

Milo did not get a chance to finish. The two boarbatusk charged and rolled into two identical balls. The resulting crash against the walls made the men scream in alarm. "Get an evac ship here now! We're abandoning Central." The signal turned quickly to The Port and started flashing the code.

Milo swallowed as the defensive barrier shook again from another hit. He could hear the crack of mortar gave under the pressure of the attack. The walls stood but it wouldn't be long.

-o-

Jaune watched as the walls began to give and swallowed the lump in his throat. He gave the detonator one last pull to secure it to the spear. "Here's hoping this works."

Jaune jumped down from the roof and held the spear tight in his hands. Jaune prayed for himself before he started to run. The teen could feel himself hitting that wall of fatigue from the night but if he could just run faster.

Jaune, not for the first time, thought this would be it. Which is why he didn't conserve any energy. He kept his breath tight and quiet and ran straight at the boarbatusk that was getting ready to attack the wall again. Jaune in a moment realized he may not have enough weight to puncture through the thick hide. He swerved slightly to a wall and took two steps and grunted as he lifted himself into the air to give as much weight to the spear as possible.

Jaune looked at the plated armor and knew there was only one place that would be free and meaty enough to get some damage done. The grim only noticed seconds before Jaune thrust the spear as hard as he could into the hind quarter of the grim. He hoped it was the smart one, but he was unsure which one it was. The grim bucked and kicked immediately pulling his spear from his arms and nearly taking his arm with it. Jaune never realized how _heavy_ the grim was. But his arm made him understand as it snapped and popped like a twig. Jaune bit out a loud cry in pain. Realizing it was useless to hang on, he let himself be thrown from the beast just as the crystal wrapped spear tip snapped and exploded. Jaune felt his body accelerate from the explosion. A wave of heat hit the front of his body. The teen just saw white and was deaf until everything hurt. Once he heard himself moan in pain he knew he was alive. That was enough to get him to focus.

Jaune shook himself and nearly toppled over when he tried to use his arm to get up. The teen gasped in pain and shock. He quickly looked at the grim as it squealed in pain. Its leg had a good chunk missing as it hobbled on its three remaining legs. The second boarbatusk turned and snarled as it charged him. Jaune started to run but knew he didn't have the strength to outrun it. "Just make it to the alley." Jaune screamed at his body as it hobbled weakly to the passage.

Jaune nearly keeled over as he limped into the alley. The boarbatusk closed the gap in seconds. Jaune smiled as it ran into the alley after him. The loud crunch of glass resounded beneath the grim's feet. Ice dust crystals ignited from the pressure in an explosion around the grim in jagged uncontrolled icicles.

Jaune kept moving. His vision blurred as the pain and fatigue caught up with him. Overhead he could hear airships arrive. Jaune lost focus unsure what that meant. He turned back and saw the Boarbatusk break off the ice by ramming against the alley walls. It shook its head free and looked at the ground. Crystallized ice dust littered the floor. The grim tilted its head at the noise overhead. A large long snort exhaled from the boarbatusk. The beast stared at Jaune for a long moment as if committing him to memory. It snorted at the patrolman one last time then backed away. "So that's the smart one…"

Jaune felt himself lose consciousness.

-o-

Gordon and his team jumped and cleared the perimeter wall and saw the airships. "Faster! Those are evac ships!"

Green Team stopped and surveyed the damage at central base. A massive boarbatusk had collapsed the wall but was hobbling on three legs. "Linda, talk to a guard confirm we have two. We'll finish this one off."

The youngest one of the group broke away. "Guardsmen retreat. We'll hold it here." Linda stopped one guard. "Was this the only one?"

"No, there was a second one. The patrolman got its attention and they ran over there before there was an explosion."

Linda saw the caved in alley. "Thank you." The nineteen-year-old hopped and skipped a few steps to clear the street and down the alley. The girl looked around before she noticed it was covered in fine ice. She nearly stepped on it before she caught the light glinting off the floor. "Crystals. Smart."

Linda followed the trail until she saw a kid. _The_ kid. "Shit, Kid!" The huntress jumped over the littered path and checked Jaune's pulse. _One, two, three,_ She sighed in relief. "Good to see your still alive kiddo. Not sure what I can do with that arm though."

Jaune slowly felt his body move and he murmured, "oww." He slowly looked up and noticed the tanned woman with deep red hair.

Linda laughed. "If you can say ow instead of moan you're ok."

Jaune didn't bother to open his eyes again. "Did you get them both?"

"My team is taking care of tripod at the wall. We haven't seen the other one."

"Find the other one." Jaune managed to crack open an eyelid. "He's smart. _Too_ smart." Jaune's tired eye gave her a steady focused look.

Linda let the smile fade but nodded. "We'll find it. I won't let it escape."

Jaune felt his eyes roll back and he loss consciousness again. Linda stood and turned to leave the boy. He would live. She looked over her shoulder one last resisted the urge to smile as he laid there sleeping.

Linda rejoined her group. The boarbatusk had slowed considerably. "One more crack and we can pierce it!" Gordon called. Riley slammed his ax against the white bone mask and it finally cracked with a loud metallic like screech. Gordon and Naomi charged with their own weapons and the lance and the sword slipped through the crack. The boarbatusk death cry shook the earth before it slumped and began to fade into smoke.

The group noticed Linda had already come back but she was busy talking to a guard. "He's hurt but don't let anyone in that is _not_ familiar with dust. The kid set the whole alleyway as a trap." Gordon raised an eyebrow at the tidbit of information.

Linda looked at the three. "The kid told me we got a smart one. We need to find it."

The celebrations were instantly cut off. Gordon looked at his team. "Linda, perimeter. Check the wall for escape paths. The rest fan out. Follow the main streets and look for signs of it veering off to a side street."

-o-

Slow panted breathes echoed the streets. The boarbatusk had started to back away at the sound of airship engines. It slowly made its way to the burrowed tunnel at the wall to escape. Sunrise had started to change the sky orange and it allowed the boarbatusk ample places to walk in the shadows. It paused when it heard its fellow grim's death cry. It waited a few moments its ears perked and shifted left and right but the grim heard nothing else. It snorted as it resumed its walk.

The boarbatusk looked at the path it had taken. There was no trail other than scent of the dirt it had been burrowing through. It waited several moments before it decided to get on its knees and break into a door of a shop. It pushed aside the tables and shelves that resulted in a loud crash. But that didn't matter. What mattered was that it survived. It used it's hooves to puncture the wooden floor and started digging at the earth. It felt it was time to hide.

-o-

"I've found the entrance the two made boss! They dug right under the perimeter wall. But the earth hasn't been disturbed recently. And I didn't find another burrow. It's still in the town." Gordon thanked Linda.

"Flare a signal when you see it. Don't engage alone." Gordon started walking down the center lane listening for any kind of sign of the grim.

-o-

Jaune heard several voices of alarm before the air around him flew into a frenzy as an air current ran over his body. He was too tired to try and distinguish them. A bright flash of light blinded him as each eyelid was raised to look at his eyeball. _Must be help._

"One, two, three, lift!" Jaune felt several hands lift his body. He slowly squinted but could not see anything beyond the sunlight. _Huh, I made it till morning._ He coughed out the dry phelm and grunted, "Did we get it?"

A man's voice laughed. "Good to see you alive Jaune. The huntsmen are searching now. It hasn't left the town. Let's get you moving." Jaune felt his body jostled as he was set down on some kind of bed. Jaune opened his eyes and realized who it was.

"How were the other settlements?" Jaune hissed and flinched as his right limp and broken arm was moved on top of his body.

"They were safe. A few grim sniffed around the walls but it was nothing the guardsmen couldn't handle." Andrew answered for himself and Koben. The pair exchanged looks with the medical team before Jaune was lifted by pulley into the ship above them.

Koben ruffled Jaune's hair as the teen rose into the air. "You did good. Get some rest."

Jaune sighed as he fell back asleep.

-o-

Alex looked at the collapsed entrance. The door was splintered open by the forced entry that took out half the wall. The huntsman exhaled. By the time he got to Central half of it was ravaged by the two boarbatusks. "I was relieved there had been no casualties in the night."

Central had been on his mind since the initial light signal. The inability to follow Gold team gnawed at him until he was satisfied that the huntsmen had thinned the heard of the boarbatusks that had dug to the surface of the plateau. "Gold team. You have the south of the building, Green, north, Sparrow east. We'll flush it out. No chances. We take our time to weaken it then kill."

The teams nodded as they spread out. Alex and Lucas entered the tools shop and heard the panting of the boarbatusk. Alex raised his fist covered gauntlets while Lucas was behind him with his rifle.

The grim was already ten feet into the earth at the start of a tunnel. Alex let his fist glow red before he twisted a punch at the grim. A twister of fire spun towards the Grim. The beast roared in pain as it kicked itself out of the building. It tried and failed to snap its maw at Alex's fist. When it was free of the building it stopped short and looked around the buildings and streets. The Huntsmen carefully surrounded it.

The boarbatusk snarled before it exhaled a scream. The huntsmen were forced to cover their ears as the world around them warped from the sound alone. Jill fell to her knees on the roof. Linda was on the street and she cried in pain, her delicate faunas ears hearing every decibel from directly in front of the monster. The grim took advantage and charged the smallest huntsman. Linda raised her weapon unable to hear but she could still see it. The grims' maw opened and crunched against metal as it bit the faunus' weapon. It then turned its head again intent on gorging the girl.

The rest of Linda's team collapsed and slammed the boarbatusks head into the ground where it tore through the side of another building. The grim kicked its legs before it looked around and attempted to ram another huntsmen that was on the ground. When they dodged, the grim let its' tusk sink into the building before it to pulled the wall out to give itself cover. Walls of Ice flash froze the debris in place. Riley used the opportunity and raised his ax and swung hard with his aura sharpening the edge of the blade.

 _CRACK_

The boarbatusk roared in pain and panic. The grim flipped its body around and kicked the huntsmen off before it smacked the undamaged portion of the wall with its tusks. The wall crumbled with a billow of dust. The grim used the collapsed wall as a ramp to run up to the roof where it jumped down and make its escape on a different street.

Team sparrow waited for the grim to come to them before the team slammed a lance and hammer from above. Their weapons nearly glanced off the face mask before they both found purchase. The other two members landed on the beasts back and shot rounds of dust that exploded inside the mask.

The Grim squealed again as the mask broke off. The sound of tearing leather ripped with the mask. It bled and snarled before it found a path to the road. The boarbatusk curled into a ball for added protection and rolled through the street. A wall of ice sprouted in front of it.

The dust created wall was reinforced with another wall of ice by another team member. Heedless of the obstacle the boarbatusk rammed into the ice. A brief moment flashed where the grim may have been able to break free. But that was quickly ended when Jill used a blast of aura and dust to dive on the spinning grim cutting deep into its side.

Alex looked at the grim. His gauntlets changed and extended into two long blades that glowed his own blue aura. Next to him Lucas' rifle changed with the sound of metal gears as it's shape moved into a pike with a long staff. He too channeled aura into his weapon. The pair dove onto the grim at once. Flesh tore as the two weapons stabbed the grims' hind legs.

"Linda, stay back." The girl nodded now that she had no weapon.

Gordon moved his hand down. At the signal, Gold Team took the opportunity to dive and pierce between the plates in its back. Each member found footing on the Boarbatusk' back.

The grim tried to kick the huntsmen off but it was already weakening. The huntsmen would not be shaken off its back. "On three. One, two, three PUSH!" The teams began to push their weapons deeper into the grim. The grim smashed his body against the buildings nearby before it fell to its knees in exhaustion. The teams continued to count to three and push their weapons into the body several times.

The boarbatusk slowly wavered before it looked at a window at the reflection of the huntsmen that stood perched on its back. It inhaled before emitted screeched that shattered the window and the walls around them shook. Several huntsmen nearly lost their grip as it gave one last attempt to escape. When everyone stayed firm on the beasts back, the Grim fell to the ground and snarled.

Alex held his arms firmly against the grim. He looked up and asked, "Gordon would you like the honors?"

Gordon's weapon changed back to an ax. "My pleasure." He placed his foot and pushed down on the grim's tusk to keep it down and swung his ax into the armor free portion of the Grim's head. The boarbatusks' angry eyes never left Gordon's as the ax fell. One final ear piercing scream passed before the grim's body began to collapse in on itself.

The teams looked around but felt no other threats. Finally, they relaxed but remained alert.

"We had no clue." Jill swallowed while thinking what could have happened.

"We were lucky it went through the front door when it hid. If it had tried to go through a wall or an alley, we would probably still be searching." The group put away their weapons as they all caught their breath. To his left Gordon noticed Linda sigh at her destroyed saber.

Alex looked over at the evacuation ships. They had long since left but there was still one ship above central base in case they had to evacuate as well. "And it might have gotten away. It was digging its escape tunnel fast."

"Linda. You found the kid, was he ok?"

She lamented the loss of her weapon before she looked back up. "He is safe where I found him. He laid a good trap. If it were anything other than _that_ boarbatusk, he would have had them." She smiled at the idea. It was something she filed away for later.

"It's too bad about your sword. But look, a trophy for the huntsmen house."

Linda looked at the broken off half mask. It was nearly as tall as she was. Its empty sockets for its row of eyes made her shudder. She looked at Riley. "Maybe not."

-o-

Jaune exhaled a cough but still remained in bed oblivious to the world. Bandages crisscrossed his black and blue chest as it slowly rose and fell. Nathaniel sat patiently at his side. After an hour of restlessness, he took a cue from one of his many daughters and read to pass the time.

Nathaniel looked up and saw his wife walk in. She made her way to the hospital bed and took her son's hand in hers. "He will be fine Allison. He's just exhausted."

Allison shook her head and she looked at the cast on her son's arm. "His arm would beg to differ."

Nathaniel smiled but stood to join her. "He's proven he is strong enough. Or not." Nathaniel sighed while he looked at his son. He could already feel it. As reluctant as he was to acknowledge it. His son's aura was beginning to awaken. It was too early to tell if it would unlock on its own or when. But it was an eventuality he knew he needed to prepare his son for. He did not voice these thoughts to his wife however. She was already worried enough about his current profession.

Allison blissfully ignorant of her husbands' thoughts slapped him lightly on the shoulder before she leaned in and sighed against his lips.

"Ew?" Jaune said lazily catching his mother lean in to kiss his father.

"Hello sweetie."

Jaune grunted. "Hi mom," His sigh of relief was evident to both his parents. He looked around at them before he murmured, "It hurts to breathe."

"It's good to see you whole Jaune. I'll get a nurse." Allison squeezed her son's hand before she walked out.

"How are you feeling son?"

Jaune kept his eyes closed. It hurt to look around. His eyes felt dry. Or just still exhausted. "Sleepy. Is everyone alright?" he opened them to look at his father. His eyes were red from the lack of sleep.

"Of course everyone is fine. We moved the family to the blacksmith furnace and just raised the heat. While it was uncomfortable, your sisters were able to sleep the night away undisturbed with the furnace heat masking them. We did not see a single grim last night."

Jaune sighed in relief. "How long was I asleep?"

"Just enough to say it's not enough sleep for an all-nighter. You had visitors already."

Jaune smiled, "How are Koben and Andrew?"

Nathaniel shared the smile. "They were faring far better than you are. But that's not who I meant. Some girl came by. Had a few years on you. Whispered something to you while you were sleeping and kissed your cheek. She was a cute one, redhead, had puppy ears. Anyone I should know?" Jaune's father raised an eyebrow.

Jaune looked at his father confused. "What?"

A knock came at the door. "Come in. He's awake."

Jaune spotted a few familiar faces. Koben, Andrew, Lucas, and Alex all walked in. "How are you feeling Jaune?"

"Good." He said with some effort. He tried to make himself more alert but it only managed to make his squeak out, "Trying to figure out who mystery girl was."

The group looked to Nathaniel. "Some girl came in and kissed him. A few years older, red hair, dog ears." Nathaniel shrugged at the description.

Alex and Lucas shared a laugh. "That would be Linda. She's the one that found him in the alley."

Jaune tried to keep his eyes open but made the connection with the only word that really stuck, "Tripod?" The group snorted at the reaction. "Shut up…" Jaune attempted to keep his eyes open but was beginning to fail. "I'm sleepy. I know who that is now." Jaune felt satisfied with the mystery solved and let himself back to sleep.

When Andrew noted he was fully asleep, he said quietly to Nathaniel. "When you were going to send your only son to us, we weren't sure what to expect. Almost a year later and still don't know how he functions at times."

Koben smiled along with his partner. "But we are thankful that we have him."

Nathaniel sighed. "But.." He wasn't stupid. He felt it too. And he looked back and forth between the huntsmen and the patrolmen.

"He's good Nathaniel. Really good."

"Just say what you want guys. Don't give me a cock stroke." Nathaniel grounded out.

"He should be a huntsman." This came from Andrew. The patrolman knew it would be best coming from him. The two go back a ways and Andrew was well aware of Nathaniels' lack of love for huntsmen.

"You really think so? With aura locked. With only speed as his only ally?" Nathaniel scowled. He exhaled before he raised his voice. His son slept peacefully next to him.

Alex stood on the other side of Jaune's bed and looked at his battered body. "You know it will unlock on its own soon if we don't do it for him. Nathan, he managed to hold off two _old_ grim on his own. One was an intelligent one. You know how dangerous those are. We took no chances when we killed it. Three teams. Jaune had no luxury. I am not even sure how he did it." He paused before he added. "But the damage in the town gives us an idea. The delay tactics. The critical thinking. The deductive reasoning to even think and look for them. It's all there. He didn't have the ability to sense the unease grim brings. It was all his mind."

Lucas exhaled thinking back to the previous night when he saw the emergency call. "None of us caught on to what was going on. We still don't know if it was a coincidence that the heard of boarbatusks followed the intelligent grim mindlessly, or if the intelligent actually lured them here so he could sneak in. We may never know. But your son noticed the danger before we did. And no one died. That's the key thing. No one died. A lot of civilians could have died if your son was not there. And no one would have been able to stop it."

Nathaniel sighed but scratched his head. "I have a lot to think about. But you made your point." The group took what they could get. "Is- is my son still a patrolman?"

Koben smiled. "He is until he feels he wants to move on. We are happy to have him."

-o-

Jaune rotated his shoulder while he scowled at the cast. It would take nearly a month and a half for the bones to heal. Both bones in the forearm snapped. He kept his arm in a sling against his chest. And apparently, he was stuck at home with this restless feeling in his chest.

Andrew and Koben both said not to come back until his arm was fully healed. They promptly kicked him out of the office while they started their patrol. Now he was back home where he sat on the porch for the past hour.

"Jaune, what are you doing?"

"Being bored."

Nathaniel looked at his son. "Get up. We got all day and I got a few things I could use that free arm for." Nathaniel dragged his son to the smithy. "Stand like that. Feet apart. Shoulders like this." Jaune felt his body getting moved around like a doll before his father was satisfied. He turned away from his son to go to his workbench. "I got an order to make and you can be my model." Nathaniel looked at his sword before he caressed the sheath… It had been a long time since he drew that blade.

Jaune laughed. "Your what? So this is what happens when you get injured. What has my life become?" His gaze followed his fathers' as the older man took out his sword and sheath. The sheath expanded to a shield. "That's your sword?" Jaune's interested perked.

"Yes, this is Crocea Mors. I have a special order for something similar. But an exact copy would be no good now. This is a soldiers' weapon. Not a huntsman's. Put the shield up like this. Just below eye level. Hold it like that. If your arm gets tired you can move it to stretch your arm. But always move it back to this position."

Jaune looked at his dad strangely. "How long am I doing this?"

Nathaniel back was turned as he flamed the heating element. "A few days. It shouldn't take longer than a week. Then we'll have you hold the sword so I can see what its reach looks like. The order is for that Linda girl. And she is a lot taller than you. So you'll be pointing that sword out straight so I can get a good measure."

Nathaniel carefully watched his son as he played with the shield. "How does it feel?" Jaune looked up at his father in confusion. His father smiled as he stoked the fire. "If you had unlocked your aura early, that likely would have been your weapon."

Jaune raised an eyebrow and gave the shield a cursory look. "It's just a shield." The total lack of enthusiasm that came from the teen made both father and son laugh.

"You know, I don't even think about it anymore? I'm happy where I am."

"Even after all that's happened?"

Jaune laughed. "With surviving the biggest possible grim I will probably ever see? Yeah. I am happy where I am."

"I was in town today, they said you are a hero." He challenged.

Jaune laughed at that. "You wouldn't think so." Jaune raised his arm again. The shield was getting heavy. "I don't know if you meant it this way, but I think I realized you can't be a hero when you want to be there to help."

Nathaniel looked at the sagging shield arm and poked at the shield with his molten red metal pick. "Hey! That's hot! You have got to have a better way to do this…"

"I do, but you said you were bored."

Authors note:

I randomly had this idea for the past month and started jotting this down to get into writing again. Didn't think this would balloon from what I thought would be a quick 4k one shot to… this? It feels way larger than a one-shot should. But I didn't like the idea of breaking it up.

I love RWBY but never got into the fandom side of it. I always liked the idea of a Jaune story. I am really happy how this one turned out.


	2. Chapter 2 Investigations

When Jaune first thought of having his own place. He always thought of all the freedom he could have to read comics, eat ice cream in the morning. The lack of his _sisters!_ He never quite made the connection between how his choice of career would impact his home life. The bang on the door at one o'clock in the morning brought him back to reality. Jaune quickly put on his pants and jersey before he opened the creaky wooden door. "Yes?"

Jaune recognized the oily-haired man well enough. He was one of the regulars at Glen's pub. Jaune didn't even wait for a response, he walked out the door and followed. "Who is it this time Fern?"

"It's a few guys actually." He shrugged in way of apology. "They had a bet that went south. We kicked them out of the bar but now there is a crowd watching them fight it out on the street."

Jaune rolled his eyes. Thankfully, _The Houses_ was one of the smaller settlements. Central was the biggest hub for the residents of Anvil. The rowdiest problems always happened here. Which explained why Andrew and Koben had been so happy to pass it off to him. Jaune yawned while he thought about his time here. He had been a patrolman for nearly two years. While this was nothing new and he should have gotten used to it now, it didn't stop from him being annoyed every time.

Jaune gave the circle of people an annoyed glare. There was another resounding cheer as one of the men took a hard hit and nearly went down. The crowd pushed him back to the center; eager to cheer both of the fighters on.

Jaune saw to see a fully awake and perky Linda jump down from a roof where the other huntsmen watched amused at the low-level fight. She stood next to him as the crowd cheered again after hearing a vicious grunt.

"How's it going there sleepy head?" Her faunus dog ears tilted cutely. Jaune ignored the Huntsman. She was doing it on purpose.

"Good morning tripod. You're up late." He smirked at her childish response. She stuck her tongue out at him. "How long have they been fighting?"

Linda laughed and patted him on the back. "They have been sniping each other all night. It got heated about fifteen minutes ago. No sign of cooling down. It could have easily been avoided if you came in to sing like you normally did." She frowned at him.

Jaune shook his head. "I didn't know you would be coming back today or I would have come out tonight." Jaune pushed her shoulder suddenly annoyed. "And don't blame them on me. All night?"

Linda sighed a yes and grinned as one of them went down to the ground. "That looked like it hurt." She said as she stood on her toes to look over the crowd.

Jaune nodded. "I'll do the paperwork in the morning. But it looks like I'm going to have to lock these two up for the night. Lovely way to start the day."

"I'll make you some coffee." Linda cheered as she skipped away.

Jaune ignored the fact she was going to break into his office. _Again._ Jaune pushed himself through to see someone new and one of the farm workers exchange blows. "This is your only warning. Break it up."

The farmhand spotted the patrolman and slowed his fist before he was hit hard in the stomach. The new guy glared at the young patrolman. It was a good indication of what he thought of Jaune's ultimatum. Jaune would have to agree with him. If anything, the years only added to his scrawny frame; filling him out to be nearly six feet tall but nothing else to show for it. Jaune decided he waited long enough. Before the drunk noticed, Jaune kicked his legs out from under him and hit a fist hard to the drunks' side. The man collapsed in a heap. "Are you two going to keep fighting?" Both drunks shook their heads no.

Jaune smiled before he placed handcuffs on both men. The patrolman turned to the crowd. "It's over guys, go to sleep. The gods know that would make me happy."

A few of the men laughed as they split either to go back inside or go home. Jaune helped both men up and pushed them towards his office. _The Houses_ was always the weird settlement of the ones that populated Anvil. It had the main hall for protection from grim and the residential houses to the east. Jaune's office was between the bar and the main hall. He was sure Andrew chose that one on purpose.

Jaune spotted his office's light on and opened the door. The building was a small one. Three cells filled one side of the building, each with their own toilet and sink. A desk and office space on the other. The back door lead to a small room where he set up a cot to rest on nights like this one. But he felt Linda wanted to chat. Hence the coffee.

Linda smiled at him as she raised a glass. "It's decaf."

Jaune exhaled. _Thank goodness for small favors._

"Alright boys. Just sleep it off. I'll be in the other room if you need anything." The new guy groaned from the pain on his side. But the farmhand just laid down and was soon asleep.

Jaune closed the door behind him as he was handed a cup. "Thanks Linda. How have you been? It's been a few weeks."

Linda gave him a wide smile. Her red hair had grown over the years. It used to be shoulder length before she allowed it to wrap in two large curls at the base of her neck. Her normally tanned skin had lightened thanks to the long winter months. "My trip to Vale was fun! I spoke to a few huntsmen who wanted me to get certified to maybe join up with their teams."

Jaune gave a _mmmm_ around his cup of coffee. "Good to hear. I guess it's overdue for you to spread your wings." Jaune felt a laugh bubble from his chest as she frowned. "Or not? So you thinking you want to stick around for a bit longer?"

Linda was one of those rare cases of a huntsman who never received formal training. Over the course of several months, he pieced together that she was a Vacuo survivor from a grim invasion of some town she didn't remember. She was too small to know where she came from. Gordon found her and raised her since she was a child to be a huntsman. But that left a few problems when she wanted to move around Vale on her own.

"You bet! I want to stick with Dad for a bit longer before I go meet the world on my own. I'll miss Anvil." She teased him with batting eyelashes. He coughed to clear his throat at the very un-Linda look.

Jaune swallowed the hitch in his voice when she stretched her arms over her head. He turned away from the twenty-year-old. "We'll miss you too. Don't know what I'm going to do without my sparring partner."

"You'll manage. Any thoughts about you exploring the world?"

Jaune shook his head. "Nothing really. I was going to go visit my sister in Vale at one point but there's never time."

"You _do_ know they managed just fine before you joined. You're young, go have fun."

Jaune smiled before he could stop himself. "The last time I had fun, you nearly had us on an involuntary flight to Vale, Tripod."

Linda scrunched her nose at the name. "You're never going to let that go are you?"

Jaune finished his cup and moved to set it in the sink. "Not when you make faces like that. Ok, time for you to get out. I need sleep before I let those guys go."

Linda stood and hugged the fifteen-year-old. But she did not let go immediately. "Ok but only since you asked nicely."

Jaune blushed but nodded into her shoulder. "Thanks. I'll see you later today."

Linda giggled. "I'll make sure of it."

The doors locked and both inmates were sound asleep. Jaune just shook his head. It wasn't that he didn't want to take a break. A vacation even. But there just never seemed to be time. Between work and helping his father with one project or another. Not to mention the patrols that required him to move from one settlement to the next day, there was just no time.

"Maybe I should ask Andrew. Some time off wouldn't be so bad of an idea. Got to find some way to spend some money."

-o-

Jaune set his pen down and started to close the folder. "You both cooled down enough to go home?"

Jaune heard several grunts and moans. Clearly the hangover they both had made them groggy. "If I catch either of you fighting again you will be in here for a few days. You get me?"

Both nodded. Jaune opened one door and let the farmhand leave. He waited ten minutes before he opened the second gate and escorted the other man out of the building. Their names and positions were in the report and he filed them away in case they ever got back into a cell. Jaune packed up his equipment and knew he would have to visit the mayor's office and Ranch owner before he made it to his dad's smithy.

Still, in the back of his mind, he wondered what he would even do on a vacation. He closed the doors and locked up the building before making a leisurely walk through the snow. The last vacation he had was with his family when all ten of them lived under the same roof. It was to a beach in Vacuo. Which Juane realized now how expensive and extravagant it had been at the time.

Maybe he _could_ go visit his sisters in Vale? He has never seen the city before. There were a few other places. But vacation during the winter months was a stupid idea. With that decided he'd let the idea alone.

Jaune rolled his eyes at the rhythmic knock at his door. Only one person pounds to the tune of the emergency help code. Jaune opened the door before he walked back to the coffee pot. "Good morning Linda."

Linda popped in with a hair band around her dark red hair. Her long usually floppy canine ears were perked up at full attention. She happily pranced over to the sink and grabbed her cup she used less than seven hours ago. "Good morning Jaune! Ready to get knocked around again?"

Jaune smirked. "Not unless you suddenly became three times faster while you were away."

The pair finished their drinks and walked out the back door. Jaune wished the coffee would keep him warm as they walked out the door. _At least there is no wind_.

The cold winter air seemed to collect around them in puffs as the pair walked around the back of the house. Jaune stretched, knowing his body was still stiff from the cot he used last night. He was not looking forward to the bout.

Linda walked to the fence. Almost reverently, she set the sword down. She stared at it for a moment before she turned. Jaune met her as she bounced to the center. Her fists raised and the happy smile still on her face.

Jaune spared a glance at her sword and sheath before he refocused on her. When his father first started to rope him in to help forge a weapon, Jaune had no idea it was a thank you to Linda and her team for thinking of finding him. His father was not confident most hunters would have done the same.

Jaune focused on the girl in front of him as she bounced on her feet. The twenty-year-old tightened her fist before she bounced a step and a half forward and thrust a jab. Jaune pushed it to the side. He followed with a cross hook to the face. She barely felt it. Jaune ignored the feeling of his impotent attack having long gotten used to it. He snapped a kick to the rear leg and pushed her shoulder. Linda felt herself lose balance and nearly fall to the floor.

Linda gave Jaune an annoyed huff. She started to re-center herself and carefully move forward. Jaune burst forward and pushed her shoulder before he rolled along her missed punch. He grabbed her arm and dropped to a knee and grabbed her hip, he ignored the indignant "Eep!", to use her waist as a fulcrum to flip her over and she landed with a heavy "Oof." Linda snarled as she shook off the morning frost and got back up.

Jaune gave a patient smile at the serious glare. "You know that was coming Linda. Adapt."

The patrolman started to copy her cadence and bounced on his feet to match hers. Jaune wouldn't have believed it at first. But after hearing how long it took the huntsman to get to central in the last major crisis, he had to admit it. The patrolmen were far faster than most huntsmen.

Andrew's insistence that he start sparing with huntsmen proved that point time and again. Koben once mentioned in passing that some places, patrolmen were required to handle huntsmen as well as civilians. Anvil was one of the outliers where that was not the case. But that only made it more important that Jaune learns. The plateau was a very small community where most people knew each other if not personally, then by family name. But that did not discount what happens outside of their plateau.

Jaune stepped around a punch, then kick. He cartwheeled and used his powerful legs to kick Linda in the chin. Again, there was no damage from the attack. Linda's aura would prevent it. But that wasn't what he was intended. Linda body was lifted several inches into the air. Jaune reached one hand at her ankle while still upside down and pulled. Linda growled as she started to fall again. She would have caught herself if Jaune didn't use his foot to kick her into the ground. Linda landed flat on her back and lost her breath.

The patrolman tried not to laugh. He really did. Apparently, she heard it since she instantly was on her feet and started a barrage of punches and kicks. He let his shoulders roll and shift as he dodged every attack. He glanced at her feet before he reached out again and grabbed her by the belt and leaned back to twist his torso. Linda felt her body fly up and over him as he twirled her into the ground again.

Linda stayed on the ground for a moment before her scroll beeped at her. "That was faster than normal." She scowled and covered her face with her hand.

Jaune let himself catch a breath before he noted, "The ground is harder now that everything is frozen. That aura of yours is just working overtime to absorb the impact. Looks like we're done for now. I don't want to actually hurt you."

Linda flinched. The last time she ignored the alert, she had a nasty gash on her head and Gordon gave an hour-long lecture. "I got it."

She got up to get her gear and snapped it back to her hip. Still not ready to let the fight go, she added, "At least you didn't get handsy this time. A girl has to keep some dignity."

Jaune glared at her, "I do _not_ get handsy!"

-o-

Jaune exhaled the cold air that entered his lungs. The first run of the morning was always the most refreshing. He tended to not do it as much now that he was semi-permanently placed at The Houses. Jaune could hear a few grim to his left and adjusted his run accordingly. _Beowolves; likely a pack of six by the sound. They were scratching at the bark_. He jumped on a tree trunk and used it to change his course through the forest. The empty field up ahead was usually clear of grim this time of day and he could push it if he saw nothing.

He cleared the trees with a wave of snow falling behind him. His feet slid a moment while he adjusted to the different feel of snow and ice that covered the grassland. The frost rose into a fog. His legs cut through it all leaving trails in the air. Seeing nothing nearby, he pushed his speed a little further.

Jaune slowed down as he entered his family's grounds five minutes later. He walked in and was greeted by his mother. "Good morning Jaune. Which sister threatened you to come to visit?" He didn't tell her they both had… nearly a month ago.

Jaune flushed out an apology. "Sorry mom. I haven't had the chance to visit like I should."

Allison Arc laughed before she hugged and kissed her son on the cheek. "Do you want some breakfast?"

Jaune shook his head no, "Sorry I just wanted to check on dad before I moved on."

His mother waved him off. But not before adding, "Do try to not be a stranger Jaune. We all miss you."

Jaune felt embarrassed as he walked out the door. The loud tings of metal on metal gave the fifteen-year-old a good idea what his father was doing. Maybe that would mean that he wouldn't try and teach him the sword and shield again. He was not sure when it started to happen but after asking one too many questions about his father's time with the sword and shield he modeled when he was injured, his father had decided to teach him the basics.

His father, Nathaniel Arc seemed to just want to pass on the family fighting style. While Jaune was happy his father took an interest in training him. It was hard for him to get excited in a field of study he would never use. As a patrolman, he would only ever use hand to hand. He would never be able to become a huntsman thanks to his lack of ability with aura and the only time he really handled dust was over a year ago when he blew up an alley to save himself from a very big boarbatusk grim.

"Good morning Dad!" Jaune called before he entered the smithy.

Nathaniel looked up and waved at his son. "Good morning Jaune. What brings you in?"

"One guess?"

"What did Linda do now?"

Jaune laughed. "Nothing so much herself. I think it's time I learned to fight against an armed huntsman."

Nathaniel looked up and nodded. "Andrew had said something about that. I'll forge up a good unsharpened blade for her. I am assuming it's for her." Nathaniel raised an eyebrow at his son.

"Don't give me that look. She seems attached to the hip to me for some reason." Jaune groaned. "The last two weeks, while she was gone, have been the quietest I had since she started visiting."

Nathaniel moved to pick up some ingots and placed them in the stone jar. "You are the closest to her age. I really think she is just lonely. Your sisters can sympathize." The father gave his son the look. The look that said there should be more visits in the near future.

Jaune laughed nervously. "Sorry. I'll be sure to look for Newt and Amber when I'm home next time. I should get going soon to meet up with Andrew and Koben for the rounds."

"I wouldn't worry too much about Linda. She just wants someone who isn't over the age of thirty to talk to."

Jaune scratched his head. "I understand." Jaune saw his father look over his shoulder from the furnace. "I do! She is a great friend. But outside of punching each other, we have nothing in common. I am just wondering what am I supposed to do with her."

Nathaniel laughed.

"What?"

"Don't worry about it. Just -erm, don't let Gordon hear you say that. I don't know how he would take it."

-o-

Jaune sprinted across the woods. The snow was thankfully enough light to illuminate his path this early in the morning. The sun was not even close to rising. Jaune felt a sound and then a sudden call, "I'm on your left!" Jaune jumped over several roots and nodded to Andrew. "You just got the message too?"

"Yeah, guards woke me up when they saw the light signal. How did _The Port_ get robbed?"

"I'm more curious what would get robbed. We don't get that many valuables sent here." The Port, while it was part of Anvil was outside of the Patrolmen's jurisdiction. It was owned and run by the kingdom of Vale. It was rare for the patrolmen to be called in for an investigation. The two spent the last twenty minutes of the run in silence.

When they arrived at The Port, Koben was waiting for them. He waved them in. "Avery is on a warpath. It wasn't just what was stolen. It's who had their property stolen."

Jaune stayed silent as they were led into the tower the port used as their communication tower. On the highest level they found Avery, the man that ran The Port for Vale, staring at a map. "Welcome gentlemen."

There was a round of greetings as the three patrolmen walked up to the table he stared at. A map of Vale sat on the table. It was a geographic map that was marked with x's to long lines that created possible paths.

"What happened Avery?"

The older man scowled before he looked over to Koben. "We had 3 shipments of backup equipment for a few generators taken. They were purchased by Anvil to replace the old ones in Central. At approximately three hundred hours, a scheduled late night shipment of dust was to be delivered. The ship arrived on schedule. The Schnee crewmen were preparing to unload their cargo before the port lost power. The airfield went dark. By the time we forced the manual back up several… pirates, for lack of a better term, had gained control of our flight field. They commandeered a second ship and loaded the generators into the stolen ship's bay. The total length of time for the theft was just under five minutes."

Koben whistled before he looked at the map. "These were the possible paths for the ships?"

Avery nodded. "Yes. The Schnee dust freighter they used to get into the port was on time. There was no delay between its departure and its arrival. The ship they stole was a Vale cargo ship. Both ships exited eastbound."

"No sightings since then." Jaune sighed while tracing the maps.

"That is correct. The ships could not take too high of an altitude so they would be forced to follow the mountain ranges. But that's as far as we can predict at the moment. Other than that we have another annoyance. Atlas and Vale will both send investigators. Even as Vale aviation security, I do not like the idea of any more strangers running around my port."

Koben scratched his head. "You think there are still people here."

Andrew hmm'ed to himself. "They would have to be Port personnel that knew how the backup systems worked and planted here a while ago."

Avery nodded while he set down a list of staff. "I agree. The problem is the last time I hired anyone into this branch was over three years ago."

"Any chance it was just someone who infiltrated it?" Asked Andrew while he picked up the list of names. There was at least eighty there.

"It's a possibility, but they would have to have known our procedures, equipment and log in codes to be able to pull this kind of robbery."

"And those are something only employees have."

"Maybe someone was bribed." Koben suggested. "We'll take it from here. How much time do we have before the investigators will arrive?"

"Atlas will take at a minimum four days. Vale will argue for a bit amongst themselves but may send one in three days."

Andrew shook his head at the bureaucracy. "That is way too long to respond to something like this. If we don't find anything within the day we may have lost them. We'll start now. You will see us conduct a few interviews. Would you like to be present?"

Avery shook his head. "I don't have the time. If you think you have something, come get me." Avery dismissed himself and walked out the door to let the patrolmen do their work.

Koben was looking at the map. "This is a clean robbery."

"No fighting either, it was just in and out."

"We won't be able to find much on the dust freighter on our side will me?"

"Not likely Jaune. If Atlas is sending their own team we will be lucky to get to finish our own investigation. Let's try and get this done as quickly as possible. Koben, go interview the staff that worked tonight. Avery had kept them all here. Jaune, go to the airfield. Have them walk you through what they saw. I'll try and see if I can narrow down the search for these ships. I'll call you by scroll if we got anything."

Jaune nodded as he walked out the door. "I'll do the same." he patted his rarely used scroll. Ever since the wall breach incident. Anvil's mayor, with a partnership with Vale, had set up a satellite CCT booster in Anvil itself. And they had issued all three patrolmen with their own scroll. Jaune still laughed that it seemed faster to use the light signal over the scroll. Just because the patrolmen had scrolls didn't mean the settlement guards or huntsmen had one.

Jaune walked down the metal stairs while he looked at the airfield. The snow moved in flurries as turbines took to the air when another airship lifted off. "I guess the world has to keep turning." Another freighter was slowing its approach and waited in the air for a clearance to land.

At the base he greeted a security guard at the door. "I need two people who were present during the robbery to guide me through a few parts of it."

The man nodded and guided him to a rest area for the staff. He called out for volunteers. Jaune was happy to see three volunteered but only took the man who looked like he had some muscle from heavy lifting and one that still wore their air traffic vest.

"Thank you for volunteering. My name is Jaune Arc with Anvil Patrol. I just wanted to get some input and have you both fill in the blanks for me. Is that alright?"

Both men nodded. "I'm Theodore. I work at supply shipments at the ground level."

"My name is Olsen. I work air traffic on the ground level." As he gestured to his vest.

"Where were you when the lights first went out?"

The questions were slow at first. Jaune wanted to get a good picture of what they were doing first before the lights went out. "There was a list of things stolen. The list is a random assortment of equipment. They seemed to know what they were looking for and didn't."

Jaune looked at Theodore. "How so?"

"They picked crates right away but they had to look for them first. They were always running with lights flashing onto the crates before they grabbed one and moved it to the ship. As soon as the lights came back on they stopped."

"They ran out of time. If you saw something that shouldn't be labeled on a shipment crate could you point it out to me?"

"I would be embarrassed if I didn't."

"Let's go then. Oslen? While we do this, can you tell me more about the airships that arrived and were stolen?"

The rest of the pre-dawn hours led Jaune through a good idea of what the pirates did. It took most of the morning but his guide Theodore found something. Jaune stared at the crate. "Can we get permission to open this? Get two guards as witnesses as well if we get the permission."

Theodore nodded, "I'll be right back."

Jaune could feel the unease of the air traffic controller. "Oslen, How long have you been here?"

Oslen was on the younger side of men he had spotted here. "Just under six years. It's a good job if you don't mind the hours."

Jaune laughed. "Do you get a vacation?"

Oslen nodded. "My wife and kids dragged me to some resort last year."

Jaune sighed. "Been thinking of asking for vacation time myself. Don't know if I'll ever get the time to go. You know?"

Oslen smiled as he leaned against the crate. "Yeah. Like the whole place will fall apart if you're gone. It's not that bad. I always felt refreshed when I come back from one."

"Friend of mine keeps insisting I go take one."

"Maybe you should. Patrolmen don't even get days off from what I understand."

Jaune laughed at the idea of a day off. "Place is too busy for a day off. It's why I am reluctant to bring it up."

"Mr. Patrolman!" Jaune looked up and waved at two guards and Theodore.

Jaune straightened up and fixed his blue patrolman jersey. "Good morning gentlemen."

"Hello Patrolman. We were given permission to proceed with your request to open.'

'Before I do, have either of you seen these symbols before?"

Jaune pointed to the two little upside down triangles. They were identical green outlines. Both guards shook their heads.

Jaune looked at the crate and sighed. "I saw one of these earlier but didn't know it was out of place. But it wasn't on a Vale crate. It was on one from Vacuo." Jaune pointed to one across the storage building near the entrance.

"Let's just open it."

Theodore got a knife and opened the plastic shipping wrap and proceeded to open the cargo unit. Inside were several canisters of dust and weapons wrapped in plastic and straw.

"Well isn't this wonderful. Those look like hunter weapons not military." Jaune opened his scroll and called Koben. It rung for a few moments before the older man greeted him.

"You got anything Jaune?"

"Yeah. You can say that." Jaune turned his scroll so Koben could see the symbol before he showed them the open box with weapons. The double upside down triangle was just an outline and barely noticeable. But it was on several other crates hidden away from the normal shipping labels. "I had all the marked boxes rounded up. None of the other boxes are open."

Koben raised an eyebrow.

"Get Avery and bring everyone down. We're in hangar four." Jaune closed the scroll. "Thank you for your help gentlemen."

Jaune felt his scroll vibrate and opened before he saw who was calling.

A pretty face looked at him with a smile. "Where are you? I thought you would have been awake at your office by now."

Jaune looked at the clock on his scroll it was just past eight in the morning. "Busy Linda. You know these are only for official purposes. Give Gordon back his scroll. I'll talk to you later."

 _Click_

Jaune put it away and blatantly ignored the several other vibrating alerts that came from his pocket. The guards looked on with a mixture of curiosity and amusement.

Avery arrived with Andrew and Koben. "We found and rounded up all the crates that had these."

Andrew groaned. "That's a bite mark. It's a label for a Mistrali arms dealer named White Wolf."

"I haven't opened up the other crates."

Avery looked at the huntsmen weapons. "Go ahead. Check them all."

It took half an hour to open and count the number of weapons and dust canisters. Avery looked at each shipping label. "Should have been food, batteries, general supplies in this one and passing through Anvil. This is a list of things that should not have been flown in. They normally would have gone through a land route. Air shipping is too expensive for this for most places that would need this."

Andrew exhaled before he added. "We could probably rule out an inside job."

Jaune looked up from the unfamiliar weapon his gloved hands were holding. "Why's that?"

"This stuff is still here. And that bite mark is known for smuggling through public channels. If they hit the port that means they targeted our port because they knew already how to circumnavigate your security. Something must have happened on their side if they had to manually fly in and take it rather than let them be shipped normally. The fact that we found these crates at all is another reason. They have to have come in just to try and cut their losses. These would have been found out soon enough when we tried to deliver them and the guys in town found them themselves."

"Besides, if someone was an inside man, they would have sorted and moved them all to a central location. It's not that hard to shuffle around a few labels." Andrew added while he put on gloves to join Jaune to handle the evidence.

Jaune fumbled with the double-barreled rifle. It had so many moving parts. It was way heavier than any of the other weapons he's seen. "I've never seen any of our huntsmen have anything like this."

Koben was holding another one. It changed in his hands into several different weapons while he tried to get a handle on it. "This is a bit much."

"I'll call Alex and see if he has anyone who may be familiar with these." Andrew immediately pulled out his scroll.

"Excuse me, patrolmen. I need to contact the ships that left our port. While I don't believe any of them could be carrying crates with these markers. I want to make sure."

-o-

Alex looked away from the scroll. "Anyone familiar with a weapons expert?"

Several huntsman looked up from their own past times while off work. "I know a bit about most weapons. What's going on?" Gordon stood up and walked over. He could feel Linda's curiosity follow him.

"The patrol is trying to identify a few weapons they have not run across."

Gordon waved the scroll over. "This is Green team leader, what kind of weapons are we looking at."

Andrew moved the scroll to the open crate. Gordon blew a whistle. "That's… not something I'm familiar with. Some of those look like they were customized to hell and back.' Gordon paused but offered, 'Or a prototype. As in developer new. You will need to get an expert from one of the major cities to come down to look at those."

Andrew sighed. "I wish we had the time. We are on a timetable. We are going to have foreign investigators soon. I want to try and wrap this up as soon as possible."

Gordon hummed to himself. "Call Signal. They have a local weapon designer and smith there. He teaches kids to make their own equipment. If anyone can answer those over the CCT. It would be them. Good luck patrolmen."

"Thank you."

The scroll went blank. "Thanks Gordon."

"Any time Alex." Gordon turned to his adopted daughter. "But it looks like we are training on our own kiddo. Jaune sounds like he will be busy for the next few days."

Linda slumped in her seat before sighed out an "OK."

-o-

Andrew closed the scroll for a moment before he smiled to himself. "Here Jaune. Call into the communications lobby and request a connection to Signal Academy in Patch. They have a weapon designer that may be able to help us over the scroll."

Jaune caught the scroll and opened it up and started dialing by reflex. "Why me?"

"You need broaden your horizons."

Jaune bit back his comment as a woman answered the call. Koben looked at Andrew unsure why he volunteered the kid. Andrew smiled as he gave a gesture to wait a moment.

"Patrolman from Anvil requesting a connection to Signal Academy."

"Please stand by." The screen went blank for a moment before a man sat behind a desk.

"This is Signal Academy Enrollment office. How may I help you?"

"My name is Jaune Arc, Patrolman of Anvil requesting a consultation over scroll with the resident weapon designer."

The man looked at Jaune for a moment. He raised an eyebrow before he shook his head, "Sure kid."

Jaune just shook his head at the reaction. "Are they all that... rude?"

Andrew just shrugged but Koben noticed what Andrew did. Seven minutes passed where Jaune was tempted to hang up and call again before another man with thick black hair and a scraggly beard sighed at the screen. "Professor Branwen speaking." He looked at Jaune. "And you're not one of my students. Who are you?"

Jaune suddenly heard a few laughs behind him. He resisted the urge to turn away from the screen. "My name is Jaune Arc, Patrolman of Anvil. I am currently conducting an investigation and requested to speak to the resident weapons designer. I assume that would be you."

Qrow nodded. "My apologies…The guy on the other line said you were a… never mind. I am Qrow Branwen, the weapon designer at Signal. What do you got?"

Jaune turned the camera to the crate. But not before he glared at his partners who tried not to laugh out loud at the predicament. "This is only one of several crates we recovered but the huntsmen on site are not familiar with any of these."

"Those aren't just huntsmen weapons. Some of those look like they are modified Atlas gear. Can you lift one up and rotate it for me?"

Jaune did just that. The one he lifted was a short barreled rifle that had a large metallic under-carriage that housed its other form. "Is that clear?" Jaune asked, unsure if the man on the line could see.

"Yeah. Hit the switch by the trigger and pull the handle. It should change."

Jaune did just that as it unfolded into a sword with a jagged edge to it. Professor Branwen stared at the blade silently before he commented, "That part doesn't come standard. What else do you got in there?"

Jaune set the sword down and one after another set down a few pieces of equipment that the weapon designer Qrow identified for him. Andrew and Koben started making notes and tagging the weapons. Jaune was seeing the pattern after a while. "None of these or their parts are local to Vale. Any idea why?"

Qrow turn his head as he heard some noise before he looked back at Jaune. "I got someone who may have a thought on that. Hey Ruby! Put that down and get over here!" Jaune saw the scroll move before it was placed further back. A girl a few years younger than Jaune moved her head slowly out from behind the professor. "This here is Ruby Rose. She is a weapons nut. If I don't know it, she usually does. Ruby, this is… Jaune?" Jaune nodded. "Right, Jaune a Patrolman. He is investigating some weapons for a case he is working on."

Ms. Rose slowly moved out from around her teacher. Her face came really close to the camera as she gushed. "Oooh, that's so cool."

Jaune smiled at the reaction. Before he asked his question, he lifted up a weapon the professor could not identify what class of weapon like the others. "Miss Rose. I have one weapon that we were not able to identify its parts. I was hoping you may know some of its origins."

Ruby looked at the scope on the weapon. "Don't know about the stock, but several of those parts are made in Mistral. The barrel looks like it's a Vacuo Military design that went out of style ten years ago. I've never seen one outside of pictures. The metal used on those are illegal to have on huntsmen weapons in Vale."

Jaune raised an eyebrow. "Why is that?"

Ruby stuttered at his question, "Oh! Ah, u-um the metal can't channel aura." She paused while tried to remember why. Her eyes brightened as she started to fire off, "Since hunters are the only ones allowed to own modular weapons, they kept them separated from normal people. There were quite a few deaths where weapons were given as an emergency shipment to defend a settlement south of Patch on the mainland. The Huntsmen did not know that their emergency replacement weapons could not channel aura… So many huntsmen died and the grim nearly overran the settlements' defenses because of the oversight. My father said he lost a few friends during that." Behind her, he could see Qrow lower his head.

"Thank you, Miss Rose. Was there anything else you can say about the weapon?"

Ms. Rose looked at it for a moment. Jaune noted her eyes flit over the weapon several times before they widened. "The canister for the ammunition is custom made. There are no manufacturer markings on it. It looks like it's a modified canister for shipping dust. Not an actual magazine."

Jaune smiled. "Thank you very much, Ms. Rose. You have been a great help to our investigation." Jaune looked up to see Qrow give the girl a fond pat on the head.

"She loves this kind of stuff. It's why I keep her around. Thank's Ruby. You can go play with your sniper rifle."

Ruby puffed cute inflated cheeks at the condescending tone before she turned back to Jaune. "It was nice to meet you, Mr. Cool Jaune!" Her face instantly flushed down to her neck before she disappeared out of frame. There was a sudden metallic thud as she screamed out, "I'm ok!"

Qrow shook his head. "Sorry about that, she is a shy one until you get her talking."

Jaune smiled. "It's fine. At least we have an idea as to why no parts were from Vale. Thank you for for your help with identifying them. One more question if you don't mind." Qrow waved his hand for Jaune to continue. "Who would be in the market for something like this?"

Qrow scratched his beard. "That's what concerns me. Every weapon you showed me is a burst based weapon designed for little to no kick back. None of them rely on aura either. My guess is that it is for people who want to fight aura users, huntsmen in particular, but do not have usable aura themselves."

-o-

Jaune closed the line. He counted to three before he turned to his partners. "I assume I'm the same age as the students at that school?" Andrew started to laugh while Koben smiled.

"I thought it was funny," Koben offered his opinion.

"You need to find some friends your age Jaune. Clearly, you have no sense of humor."

Jaune bit his lip before he mentioned Tripod. But she was hardly his age. Jaune honestly did not remember the last time he talked to anyone his own age. And while he was aware people his age went to school. He honestly forgot there could have been some confusion when he called the academy. Ultimately Jaune ignored them in favor of the dust canister. He briefly looked over to Andrew and Koben daring them to continue.

Koben released a long-held amused sigh. "Joking aside, I'm not sure what we can do now that would allow us to chase after some criminals. We have no jurisdiction outside of Anvil and the surrounding land." A 'pop' followed almost immediately after Koben's groan.

Jaune looked at the metal casing's edge. It was just a normal dust canister that was cut in half with grooves cut into the metal body to be screwed into place with a washer on top. "Here,"

Andrew picked up the casing. "The canister was made to hold dust. But the modification is new. This was cut recently."

"That may mean they were being assembled in Vale but the parts were ordered from all over the world to keep no one from noticing?" Guessed Jaune.

"Doesn't bring us closer to finding those who broke into the port."

Jaune looked around where they were conducting the investigation. A lot of people noticed the three of them were going through crates with several guards. It was quite the spectacle. "And a lot of people noticed what we were doing." Abruptly interrupting his own thoughts, "Let's speak to Avery. We can't do anymore out here."

Jaune spared a glance at his partners. They both looked to have the same idea as all three turned to the crates.

It did not take long for to Avery invite them all into his office in the high communications tower. Andrew led the explanation of what they found. Koben added, "If whoever took the crates wants these ones too, they would need to come back. It would be our only chance to catch them."

Avery nodded. "It wouldn't hurt to try. It would only take a few guards to protect a few proxy crates."

"Every second counts with this too, if we wait too long they may just cut their losses." Koben looked at the lists of crates that were stolen and where they came from.

Avery looked out the window to his field below. "It would be placing my men in danger as well. You can not guarantee that no one will get hurt."

"I was thinking we will need some huntsmen for the rest of this investigation if we went through with the plan," Koben confessed. "If we were going to do a stakeout, we would want the guards to be huntsmen just in case."

Andrew smiled at the thought. "Tell them I've ok'ed the budget. I'll spend my own pocket money if the mayor can not approve payment."

The two looked at Avery. The man closed his eyes and thought about it. "I'll announce we recovered several boxes of evidence and it is being retained under security until Vale officers arrive for their own investigation. That will be as much time as I can give you. If nothing shows up by then, you will have to hand over everything you found."

"Yes sir." The group replied at once. Avery nodded before he called up several men he trusted to set up the evidence.

-o-

Koben knocked on the door to the huntsmen's house. The rest station was a large building that was designed to house a number of huntsmen teams that were stationed in Central or were just passing through. Koben hoped a few of the teams would be free for the coming days. When the door opened a man named Justin answered. "Good morning Justin. Can you round up any team leaders that are in the building and have them meet me in the dining room? I got a job for anyone that's free."

Justin nodded and walked off as he started giving names and calls around the house. In the end, it was only Gordon's team that answered the request. Jaune stood next to Koben while the group called out the order for the watch. The teams would start a watch immediately until the Vale inspector arrives. If the thieves did not try anything by the time Vale police arrived, it would be out of their hands.

Jaune parted from Gordon, his partner for the next eight hours. Avery did not want any chances. He ordered his personal guard to protect the real crates as well as the proxy. The huntsmen and patrolmen would stay at a distance to respond if there was an attack. Jaune took the proxy during the day hours which let Gordon stand on a sub-level below the main hangar with two guards to protect the real weapons.

The patrolman did his best to keep himself alert. The guards came in regular intervals with two patrols pathing by the empty crates. Jaune kept himself a good distance away. His perch was near the top of the hangar's support beams. It was not too far away that he could not get to the proxy boxes in an emergency attack. Jaune sent an update on his scroll while he waited for the time to pass. He was thankful for Gordon when he repossessed his scroll from Linda.

Hours ticked by while Jaune got used to the cadence of the port. He heard the background noise of the soldiers as they walked by. The port hummed both from activity and the vibrations of so many airship engines thrusting pressure on the floor even while at rest. The screech of metal from the catwalks above him reminded him how large each hangar was. Each was designed to protect the airships from grim and were made to clear even the largest frigates.

Several hours allowed Jaune to feel the port as easily as he felt the forests and settlements. Jaune watched the proxy and thought about his first shift with a frown. It was unlikely that there would be a turnaround so fast after the theft that morning. Less likely during daylight. Jaune did not allow himself to slack exactly. But he would admit there was a moment or two where he allowed his mind to wander.

The guards were on their second replacement rotation when he received the message that Riley was coming up to replace him. Jaune wanted to cheer at the news. He stood up and stretched. The guardsmen looked as bored as he did. At least he could go to sleep soon. The Port had given the huntsmen and patrolmen room for the next few nights. Jaune wondered how Andrew sent out the message to the settlements for their temporary replacements. Usually the militia would have a volunteer be their point of contact but Jaune was never the one that communicated to them. Deputies were rarely ever needed with three patrolmen in Anvil.

Ten in the evening finally rolled around. Jaune waved at Riley who knelt next to him. "Rest well Jaune. I'll see you tomorrow if those Vale idiots still want to slack off and not get here."

Jaune smiled at him. "I'd rather we solve this before they get here, to be honest."

Riley shook his head, but the smile on his face showed how amused he was at the rivalry. "I am sure you would. I just don't like how they treat the settlements. Never have."

Jaune grimaced. "There is a reason they let patrolmen effectively police the settlements. They want nothing to do with us until something is stolen. Manpower and money are usually the bigger problems."

"That doesn't stop them from pretending they care only to deny us basic utilities that would save lives. Look how long it took us to get a scroll booster in Anvil. Andrew and Koben had been petitioning one for years. It took the threat of a settlement being wiped out for them to even consider it. And that took a year before they agreed. If they cared what goes on out here outside of a shipment theft, they have a funny way of showing it."

Riley patted the teen's shoulder before Jaune stood and stretched. He waved a farewell as he walked to the living quarters for the compound. The residential area was more of a barracks with identifiable rooms. Jaune found his number and walked into his room and found a mat with his name on it. He smiled at the card with his name and a small plate that had a cold sandwich and chips.

Jaune moaned with his mouth full. _This is so worth it_. He thought happily while he at the sandwich. He opened his scroll reviewed the reminders for tomorrow. He would do the same shift tomorrow, but when he woke up he was instructed to do the east side of Anvil for his patrol before reporting back. Jaune swallowed the last of his drink to wash down the admittedly dry sandwich.

Jaune thought back to the weapon stash. It was better to get an early sleep now in case something happens tonight while he slept. With that, he hit the lights in the room and tried fitfully to fall asleep. Above him, the world hummed onward.

-o-

The morning sun woke Jaune up through the window. He sighed at that fact. He had hoped that something would have happened during the night. Then he could at least respond. While Andrew and Koben would never admit to it if he asked. Jaune was sure they made him have the daytime shift because it was the safest.

The morning passed by in a blur of cold air. He stopped by his home before he made his rounds for the day. There was so little time, he had to hurry his breakfast at home and it sat heavily in his stomach on the run. His half of the patrol went quickly mostly in part because he was not doing his morning training. When he arrived back at the port Gordon was waiting for him.

"Good morning Gordon. Anything yet?"

Gordon shook his head. "No. But I was thinking if you wanted to do a swap for this one?"

Jaune nodded. "Sure, it can't be any more boring than up top."

The huntsman laughed and patted him on the shoulder before he started walking to the hangar above ground.

Jaune turned and walked towards the tower to go to the lower levels.

The hangar Avery had chosen as the secured point was a defensive facility used when the base had to be used as a military outpost for Vale. It was built and used exclusively for the use of Vale Military Personnel. Since Vale had decided this was an issue they wanted to control, Avery was given permission to open up the hangar for the crates.

Jaune stopped and spoke to a guard. The patrolman flashed his badge the port issued him before they unlocked the door and allowed him inside. The first thing Jaune noticed was that the hangar was not cleared out like the one above them. The guards that monitored the crates were not even in front of the correct crates. Instead, they were nearby.

The patrolman felt a beep at his pocket and pulled up his scroll.

 _Left stairs up two floors and on the left._

Jaune looked and saw the stairwell before he started to make his hike up to the catwalk level. It took him a moment but he found Koben sitting patiently looking at the ground below them.

"Good afternoon Koben."

"Hello Jaune. The guards will change shift again in half an hour. Everything fine outside?"

'On my half yeah.'

Koben looked at his scroll and sent Jaune a message.

 _The guards don't know what crates are the real ones. Keep it that way._

Jaune read and closed the scroll. He nodded at Koben before the older man stood with a groan and walked down the catwalk. Jaune for his part simply sat down and let his legs swing off the edge while he watched the entire hangar.

Hours rolled by while Jaune started to walk around the catwalk. The hangar was one of the ones below the deck of the plateau. The mouth of the hangar opened into the air and the flats below. Several men below him walked to the defensive guns. That was a shock for him when he went below deck the first time Avery gave him the tour. The port had several cliff-mounted turrets as well as the ones above ground covered by large canopies. They were designed to take out large flying grim that may have attacked ships coming into harbor.

Jaune had never heard of the guns being used, but he could imagine it being the same way fleeing escorts had incidentally dragged grim to the walls in their escape to any of the settlements.

The patrolman did not actually know which hanger this was, but there were several hangars that opened from the side of the plateau. Jaune walked to the edge of the catwalk. He could see the tips of several turrets. It was unfortunate that the theft happened so quickly. No one was able to fire a single shot when they arrived, and they left from the opposite direction, electing to fly over the plateau instead of attempt to break past those guns.

The hours continued to roll by. Jaune heard nothing from the scroll from Gordon. Jaune did not think it was possible for it to be more boring down here with the actual cargo but it was. The boredom was exhausting when he thought of how many days they may have to wait for Vale to come back. The teen stifled a yawn that threatened to break out when the new rotation swapped. Jaune's ear twitched as the group walked below him. The cadence seemed wrong.

Jaune walked across the catwalk back to his original perch. _There it was again._ Jaune listened and counted. The teen shook his head. The footsteps were right. A set of three people. The group walked below him again while he leaned forward. The railing on the catwalk creaked in protest. _That's what it was_. Jaune lowered his eyes back to the group. The guards walked over one of the drainage crates that allowed rainwater to run off the hangar deck. Jaune counted four creaks. He quickly pulled out his scroll and sent a message to Gordon. He closed it with a soft click and looked back to the group.

The patrolman rolled over the ledge and used a hand to grab the bridge of the catwalk before he let himself fall the thirty feet below him. He landed with a soft grunt. Jaune sighed when the guards did not notice the noise. The patrolmen caught up to the group and called out to them as they started to walk across another drainage grate.

"Stop." The group turned and recognized the jersey. "Who are you?" He waved his hand at the guard who was about to speak. "Guards move to the sides of the wall."

Jaune heard the creaks on the floor. The patrolman rummaged through his mind how to stall. "Guards, slowly walk towards me please." The group did as they were instructed still unsure if they should have taken the patrolmen's thoughts of an intruder seriously.

Jaune's patience finally paid off as a single soft creak announced the person as the metal on the floor flexed. He kicked off the ground hard to close the ground and swung to where should be someone's stomach. The punched missed.

 _Squeak._

Jaune pivoted his foot and kicked low and punched high before he brought his hand down. _Finally._ Jaune thought as he grabbed what felt like leather. He tugged the invisible material hard and threw it against the wall of crates. The invisibility shattered like glass.

Jaune realized in an instant that it was a girl. A very _short_ girl. Black hair and green eyes smiled at him before she kicked off the wall with a silent breath of air and grabbed his arm to throw him. Jaune caught the arm but could not stop the already off balanced momentum that threw him over the diminutive girls' shoulders. Jaune kicked out his legs to dampen the throw and caught himself in a deep crouch before he kicked out his legs to sweep her. The girl rolled with the kick and cartwheeled out of his range.

"I have to say," The grip that let his forearm go was vice-like. His arm ached from just the second of contact. He shook his wrist as he gave her a cautious glare. "Invisibility is a new one for me. I really almost dismissed it."

The girl had a calm smile and shrugged. Jaune matched it.

"So I have to ask. Which was it? Did you show up now because it was easier to come during the day? Or you thought I was the better mark to walk past?"

The girl smiled easily before she raised her hand to her chest with a light double tap as she showed two fingers.

Jaune laughed in spite of himself. "Well, that's disappointing." Jaune ran forward. The girl bound forward to meet him. From then on, the two only exchanged silent gasps of breaths as they started to fight. Jaunes' fighting style was based on avoidance. It was the only way to counter an aura user. One touch from an aura enhanced blow could kill him if Jaune was careless enough. The girl also seemed to have fought to avoid contact. The only time they physically touched was for an unexpected move that was countered by grip or roll. Jaune learned from the first exchange he could not afford to block or parry. That did not stop him from using the girl as a platform to counter-attack with his own momentum.

The patrolman used one of the crates to get into the air before he dropped an ax kick down upon the girl. The intruder made an attempt to avoid it before Jaune grabbed a corner of a cargo crate and pushed just enough to adjust to aim where she dodged. The kick landed and the girl had a rough puff of air from her mouth but she barely moved. She reached to grab his leg to punish the kick but gasped in pain as Jaune gripped her hair with one hand to mercilessly pull it back. She eyes teared slightly before she turned to him. Jaune gave her a rough smile before he used his free hand to cup the back of her neck and cheek. He let himself begin to fall backward from the lack of support before he threw himself backward. Her neck and head were yanked over him and into the metal grating on the ground. Jaune groaned out in pain as he landed awkwardly on his shoulder before he body rolled correctly underneath him. The girl laid still for a moment stunned before she slapped the ground and got up. Her eyes seemed to changed color for a moment while she wiped the blood from her split lip.

Jaune raised both fists and bounced on his feet before he thrust forward like Linda had done to him so many times. The sudden change in the attack was enough for him to glance a blow off the short girl's cheek. She shrugged off the punch and grabbed Jaune's extended wrist. She was ready to twist and break it. Jaune felt his arm contort and he spun his body with it before he grabbed her forearm and pulled her to him. It was more a testament to how light she was rather than his own strength when the unexpected move took her off her feet. She had already recovered and flipped her body over his. Jaune re-gripped her forearm before she finished the maneuver and let himself fall to the ground and pulling her one more time hard onto the concrete.

The patrolman didn't expect to hear the sound of shattered glass again. The girl gave a voiceless gasp. He looked to see the girl had changed. Both eyes with two different colors that glared at him before she rolled away and stood up. The once black hair was parted nearly down the middle, split between brown and pink. She huffed at him before a parasol materialized in her hand. Jaune took the moment to stand up as well. He was suddenly knocked back. His face contorted in pain. He did not even see her move to kick him. Jaune heard the sound of a metal sword becoming unsheathed and rolled away in time to hear the stab of the weapon embed itself into the concrete.

Whatever advantage Jaune thought he might have had on her ended quickly as he was forced to dodge and defend from her quick blows with the rapier and punches and kicks when he tried to close the distance to make it harder for her to use that weapon.

 _Finally_. Jaune thought to himself. He moved in for one more attack and let himself get punished for it to give Gordon an opening. Jaune felt pain ripple across his shoulder when she gripped him on the shoulder to raise her rapier. The teen kicked the woman hard against the armpit and jumped back. The force nearly pushed her off her feet. Her sword hand was raised above her with no defense for Gordon who dove in with his pike.

The girl spun and pivoted to swing her sword at Gordon's back. The huntsman's aura flared. The ping that followed from the ineffective attack made her click her tongue to the roof of her mouth. She spun the sword back into her sheath before she opened the umbrella and stood still.

Jaune shouted, "She uses illusions."

Gordon ran after her and swung his pike low on the ground upward at the woman. The pike shattered her into glass. Jaune and Gordon quickly looked around before Jaune turned at the sound of a light smack.

It was just enough time to register that she had blown the pair a kiss. Her free hand was resting on a create. A half second later she opened her parasol and the girl along with the crate disappeared in a flash.

Jaune sighed while he felt the fatigue from the fight take hold of him. "That was one of the real crates."

Gordon frowned. "Yes, it was."

Jaune refused to take in a deep breath. "You think she is gone?"

Gordon nodded. "I would think so. The others are coming too. Why?"

Jaune wheezed out a long exhale and coughed. "Because she hurt me way more than I was willing to show." Jaune spat out some blood and let himself sink to the floor to catch his breath. His chest wheezed.

Alex and Andrew found the two shortly after. Moments later Koben was followed by the other volunteer huntsmen.

"You ok Jaune?" Jaune looked up to see Andrew kneel in front of him.

"I think I am going to have to get looked at. Sorry, we let her get one of the crates."

"It's fine. Get any information from the fight?"

Jaune closed his eyes to focus on the encounter. "A couple of things and all bad. She must have been here a while. I don't want to say she got careless. It was just luck that I noticed at all. I have no idea how long she had been here but I think she had just found the correct crates recently or she would have made a move before I did." Jaune inhaled a wheeze before he cleared his throat. "She was short, different color eyes, brown hair on the left side and pink on the right. She was around Linda's age going, either way, a year or so. She could potentially look like anyone. When I first got her out of her invisibility she looked completely different from what Gordon saw."

"You sure the last face you fought was her real one?"

Jaune looked over to the man as he gave an independent description of the encounter to Alex. Jaune refocused on Andrew and Koben. "She didn't take me seriously until I broke the second illusion on her body. That was when she started to try and kill me."

"We'll have to report this to Vale," Andrew said while he rubbed his temple.

Jaune looked at his partners before he closed his eyes and slowly stood up. "You'll like this even less. She fought very differently from any aura user I've seen."

Andrew helped the teen stand. "How so?"

Jaune looked at Andrew unsure how he felt about it….

-o-

The crate screeched metal against tiles. The girl looked up in time to see several guns pointed at her before they all lowered.

"That's only one crate girl." Scuro's prosthetic arm had three small barrels lined in a row aimed at her head. It retracted back into his robotic hand. His dark brown hair was short and his gruff voice spoke around one of a case of cigars that were gifted to him when he was lent the help to take advantage of this mess.

The girl glared at the man before she opened her mouth in a silent yell while moving her hands. She gave him a rude gesture before she crossed her arms back and forth below her waist in an 'x' then moved a hand thumb-pointed-up over her shoulder.

Scuro frowned and took a moment to tease out what she meant. "You were there for hours, why did you have to get out of there quick?"

The girl huffed before she pointed at her eyeball and clasped her hands together then she pointed at the crates. Her foot tapped impatiently at him. "You saw a trap... In Vale secured land, Huh. I am surprised they would authorize it so quickly. But when Torchwick offered your services I had not thought a few Valian soldiers would give you any problems."

The girl stuck her tongue out at him and cross her arms in an 'x'.

"They had huntsmen?"

The girl nodded then added with two fingers before she moved one downward. "What was the other half?"

The girl puffed out a frustrated breath and licked her split lip. She instantly pointed at her self.

-o-

"The girl fought like she was a huntsman that had patrolmen training." Jaune walked with Andrew and Koben out of the hangar.

The three patrolmen paused just outside while they processed that. Patrolmen were never picky when they chose someone to join their ranks. It was actually the opposite. Most people would leave before they completed the training. It was that brutal for anyone without aura. And anyone with aura wouldn't bother. There were more lucrative jobs if their aura was unlocked.

Koben started to walk again and the group followed. "Anything good came out of all this?"

"I didn't die?" Jaune muttered.

Koben and Andrew laughed at the concern in his voice. "Jaune, don't make it sound like an actual question."

-o-

While Jaune moaned the night away in an ice bath to recover, Avery was subject to a less than hospitable conversation to Vale. The security breach and the loss of one of the crates escalated the issue and orders were given to have Valian officers on site to secure the weapon cache and escort it back to Vale immediately.

"For a _proper_ investigation…." Koben scowled.

Jaune walked behind him gingerly the following afternoon. His body was sore and he still had trouble breathing. It would still be a day or so before he could move without too much pain. It would be another week before he should be up and running. When the doctor told him he should not try and stress his body, he only muttered that he was taking that vacation after all. But there was still a job to do before Andrew signed off on his vacation time. They would all be interviewed by the head investigator. No one was thrilled to be under the interrogation of an outsider.

"Here they come." Koben sighed in his deep annoyed tone. The transporter must have been running on all engines to get the ship to Anvil in under twelve hours. Frigates can take days. Jaune looked at the foreign ship. The ship was a smaller and sleeker than the frigates' Vale uses as escort ships. It slowed to a low hum as it landed on the port bay. The door opened to reveal several vale police officers along with a few huntsmen.

Jaune tilted his head. One of those was not like the others. Jaune broke ranks and started to walk to the group. He was called after by his fellow patrolmen but then he realized they never saw the man's face before. "Professor Branwen?"

Qrow smiled at the patrolman. "Good afternoon Jaune. It's good to see you up and about after reading the briefing." The man looked behind Jaune. "Hello Patrolmen. My name is Qrow Branwen lead investigator. I was drafted from Signal to take over the investigation due to the nature of the items in question. So let's find a good spot to talk. I have a few questions to ask before I transport the weapon cache."

The three patrolmen relaxed when they realized that Qrow was not going to try and make a crusade over the theft or strong-arm control over Anvil nor The Port. He was only there to get information and take the weapons off their hands as quickly and safely as possible. The conversation quickly turned into a longer affair than they had expected. Details Jaune was barely able to recall were poked and prodded when it was his turn. Thankfully the man was patient and understanding. The hours rolled by as everyone shared their input along with several huntsmen who had been hired to help with the stakeout.

Jaune was the first to stand and stretch. "I guess that's it then." He murmured with a frown.

"It is." Qrow agreed. "Let's dismiss for the night. I'll do one more inspection of the shipment before I escort them back to Vale in the morning."

Qrow hit his clock to end the session. "Thank you very much for your help and your own initiative in this matter. Vale does not realize how time sensitive things like this can be if they have any hope for answers. Good evening gentlemen. I have to look to make sure my men have settled in for the night." The inspector left quietly. Jaune was told earlier that Qrow had taken over several buildings to house his officers as they would stay one night.

Alex waved his men up. "As always, it's a pleasure to work with you all."

Andrew laughed. "I already have the payment sent to your account this morning."

"Never doubted it Andrew. If you need anything else, let us know." Alex started walking out but not before Gordon said over his shoulder, "Eh, Jaune? Linda will be looking for you in the morning."

Jaune let his shoulder slump. "I guess that means I should get some shut-eye myself." It was already dark and it was a good thirty minute run during the daytime to his house.

"We could always ask Avery if it is alright to let you room here at the port. It's not like the barracks are always full."

Jaune shook his head. "I prefer my own bed. Besides I don't like the idea of Linda breaking in to find me." Gordon was already out the door or he would have nodded, painfully aware of the girls' lack of respect for personal space.

"You be careful then. I'll see you all in the morning."

Jaune was out the door and not fully paying attention when he heard his name called. He turned to see someone wave at him with a package. "Um, can I help you sir?"

The man slowed to a walk, "I'm glad I caught you Mr. Arc. A package came in with the ship two days ago but it was caught up in the inspections."

Jaune grinned. He knew exactly what it was. "Thanks! I actually forgotten about it!"

The man started to walk back as Jaune opened the package. It nearly took half a year to save the box tops but he got his hoodie. The teen did not care about the looks he would receive for wearing a cartoon character on his chest. He took off his blue patrolman jersey and pocketed it in his back pocket with half of it still hung out of the back. With the biggest child like grin he had in ages, he slipped the hoodie on. Just a little too large. But it was so warm!

Jaune smiled at the four guardsmen at the gate when they saw the cartoon rabbit on his chest. He didn't care who saw it, he was still a badass patrolman. And if he wanted to wear a cartoon rabbit hoodie, no one was going to stop him. Jaune picked up speed outside the gates. The cold winter air didn't bother him at all as he sped across the snow lit night.

-o-

Linda stared at Jaune's chest. Specifically Pumpkin Pete smiling face. "Jaune?"

Jaune tightened the hoodie drawstring around his face and smiled at her as he slid the jersey over it. The cloth was a little too thick to see the rabbit's face but you could see an outline if you look hard enough. "Why do you have a cartoon rabbit on your chest?"

"You mean the hero of children's breakfasts everywhere?" Jaune said with a wide grin.

Linda covered her face and laughed into her hand. "Jaune, you're like, fifteen."

"Almost sixteen, but sure."

"Why do you have a Pumpkin Pete's logo on your sweater?"

"Hoodie, and its because I've eyed this little guy since I was ten. I could only really try and save up for it when I moved out."

Linda snorted as she recalled all the boxes of cereal she saw him build up over the year. "I always thought you had a crush on the girl on the box, or you were just a slob about cereal. But you were just collecting box tops."

Jaune laughed as he raised his jersey to show off the hoodie. "The girl what? Hey! don't laugh. This is an important landmark in my life as an independent adult. I totally don't have to eat any more of that cereal."

"Nowhere in that did I hear that you would actually stop."

"Of course not," Jaune actually looked affronted at the prospect. "I love Pumpkin Pete's."

"And that's where I'll call it the morning. Have fun at the port Jaune."

Jaune waved as he locked up the house. "Later Tripod!"

Jaune took four steps to get up to speed and he ran at a steady pace towards the port. Apparently, Gordon had spoken with Linda since all she did when she visited was talk with him. Jaune was thankful. He still felt sore and it hurt to breathe if he panted. After a long jump over some fallen trees and sliding on uneven footing across ice and snow, Jaune remembered the doctor had ordered him to not be too active for a few weeks.

 _In hindsight, I probably should have asked him to be more specific._ Jaune jumped up a tree and hopped over several branches and across a bank of snow that was plowed for the normal traffic between the Grainery and the Port. That meant he was close.

When Jaune slowed at the port entrance, he spotted Qrow with Avery on the main street while Avery was talking. Jaune excused himself from the guards as he walked in and approached the pair.

"Good morning Sir's."

Qrow looked at the teen and nodded a hello. Avery smiled and waved the young man over. "Good morning Jaune. We were going over how quick the theft took place."

"From the reports and testimonies, I got a good idea what happened. You might be interested to know that the girl you saw was likely not part of the original group."

Jaune looked over to the professor. "How can you be sure?"

Qrow looked at a folder he had in hand and closed it. "The woman was likely their clean up crew. No one of that stature matched the list of people who had robbed the port the first time, and the bigger clue is your girl was mute. We can attest everyone who robbed the place all spoke at one time. You sure she couldn't speak?"

"Yeah. Whenever we exchanged blows or if she was surprised. She always breathed, but she never vocalized."

"While you can try and practice not speaking, it's an unconscious action to use your vocal cords when you grunt or exert yourself. From your description. She did not seem to have them."

Andrew arrived eventually along with Koben. The group exchanged good mornings in the cold air while Qrow walked around the port's upper layers.

The group caught up with Qrow after he looked satisfied with the inspection. "The ship is fully fueled and ready to go. The escort ships just arrived an hour ago and they are getting antsy. It looks like this is it. Thank you for your work Patrolmen. Avery hopefully next time we meet it will be under more amicable circumstances."

Avery waved and said his goodbyes before he resumed his work. Jaune smiled as he watched the older man go. He had always been the all business type.

The patrolman stood on the deck as the four airships took off and moved slowly out of the hangar and out to the open skies. The gentle thrum shook Jaune's body from the ships slow liftoff. When they had cleared enough space where he could hear his own voice he nearly whined out. "This was all we could do huh?"

Koben slapped him on the back. "Hey, we did a good job. You found the weapon cache, and we got the opportunity to attempt to apprehend the culprits. We confirmed no one in the port was apart of the theft. And there is now a big lead for the Vale investigation about this weapon ring."

"But the girl got away."

Andrew laughed as he watched the ships go higher into the air. "Jaune. When you leave Anvil I'll be surprised if you can apprehend any good criminal more than one out of ten times."

Jaune looked up at the man and grumbled. "That sounds harsh."

"It is, but you took it wrong the wrong way. How many times do you think a crime happens before we can even get the chance to identify the thief? Then arrest him. Sure if you can find them in the act, it may be a fifty-fifty chance to get them. But what about all the times where they were ten steps ahead? We are always trying to catch up to them."

"You will only hear about the successes. But you ask any detective, inspector or patrolman, and they will all tell you how long it took to get that arrest. You did good Jaune. Don't question that."

They heard the first boom and turned to the ships. An engine of one of the escort ships lost power and the vessel itself began a slow descent to the ground. A second boom and Jaune saw the trail of light that blasted from below them on the edge of the plateau. "The turrets!"

"Koben, Jaune get below and get to those guns. I'll go see Avery about getting a support ship after those guns are secured."

The group split and Jaune could hear another round and a third explosion. Jaune entered the turret hangar in time to see the fourth ship go down. He spared a parting thought to Qrow.

-o-

The ship shook and Qrow felt his stomach drop at the sudden lurch as they lost altitude. "What happened?"

"Shots were fired from the turrets behind us. They took out one of our engines. Switch to emergency back up!" The captain ordered.

Qrow saw another volley hit one of their escorts. "Send a message to the other ships to turn. Those shots are aiming for the engines." It was too late for those commands as the air vibrated with pressure and heat as two other engines followed.

"Dropping to controlled decent. Prepare for incoming."

Qrow looked to the skies when the Captain made that call. Two airships much larger than theirs cleared the mountain range and descended on them. He recognized one as a Schnee cargo ship. "I'll go secure the cache. Prepare for a fight."

-o-

All the turrets were run by a single control center on the Vale secured side of the port. Jaune saw a few people laying on the ground but only a few of them moaned. He ran past them as another shot was fired. He prayed none of the people he passed by were critically injured. His first priority was to secure the turrets.

The heavy metal door was open carelessly, four men slumped around it unconscious. Inside the control room, he spotted the girl. She smiled at him with a wave as she opened her umbrella.

"Oh no you don't." Jaune took five steps at full speed and nearly cloths-lined her. He grabbed the parasol and twisted the open metal bar as she bent over to dodge the attack. The pink and brown accessory snapped out of her hand. The girl attempted to kick his already bruised ribs but was interrupted by Koben. His fist grazed her nose as she pulled back.

She rolled away in a cartwheel and scrunched her nose at the burn that sat at the end of it. She huffed. Her close shattered away from the military uniform she wore to her own clothes of white lace and brown and pale pink leather.

Jaune gave the parasol a once over. It looked perfectly normal. "Don't suppose you could surrender and save us a lot of trouble?"

She rolled her eyes at him. In one fluid motion she pointed at him before raising a single finger then crossed it. Then she raised a hand over the back of her hand and pantomimed a hanging.

Koben raised an eyebrow at the exchange. But Jaune laughed as he closed the parasol and moved it behind his back. "I wouldn't blame them. But I just want to arrest you."

The girl smiled and raised a delicate eyebrow suggestively.

"Haha. You know what I mean."

The girl agreed with a hearty nod. She glanced out of the hangar entrance and saw several new ships start to approach the wreckage. She exhaled a silent sigh and hit a button on the console behind her. The room lost power and there was a snap of electricity behind Jaune and Koben effectively disabling the turrets.

Jaune gave her a scowl. "Was that really necessary?"

The girl ignored the question and charged at him. Jaune quickly moved the parasol behind him and kicked upwards to ward her off. She grabbed his leg and hopped over it like a gymnastic beam. Koben joined in and gripped the girl by the ankle to stop her momentum and pulled. With the arc in full swing, he threw her body against the wreaked console.

The girl gave an 'oof' from her lungs at the impact before she rolled and got up. She looked at them both before she turned her attention to Koben. The man for his part ran to her with palms open. His hands slapped against her kick and lifted himself off the aura enhanced attack. He swung both legs to her face. The girl backpedaled several steps from the blow.

Jaune followed after him. He was behind the girl and swung his arm under hers and with her body off balance swung her over his body against the wall. She nearly bounced off the impact before Koben jumped into the air and again off the ceiling. He hammered a knee against her shoulder where her body collapsed to the ground. Both patrolmen backed up as she swung both legs out. A half second passed before the metal desk next to her crumpled from the kick as she gracefully spun to her feet.

The woman wiped a bead of sweat off her forehead. She stared at the two with a measured look before she decided to start her offensive. She attacked Koben with a series of kicks he dodged. Jaune swept her anchored leg only for her body to shatter to glass. Jaune looked at the parasol in time to see the girl was about to grab it.

She scowled as she had to thrust her hand out to knock away the projectile computer monitor Koben threw at her. The precious second was enough for Jaune to catch up and grab the umbrella at the same moment the girl did.

Jaune grinned through gritted teeth. "Sorry, that's mine now. I found it."

The girl smirked before the two took turns to kick or sidestep each other. Neither were willing to let the pink and brown parasol go. When she moved to break his arm that held her parasol, Jaune was quick enough to let go but his freehand held firm. She twisted her parasol quickly but stopped when she felt it begin to flex.

Jaune filed that information away for later.

Koben stepped behind the girl and kicked the back of her knees. Her stance broke and she nearly tipped over before she growled and clicked a switch on the umbrella. The sword hidden inside came loose. In a single smooth _sching_ sound of the blade being released, she stabbed it behind her back at Koben in a blind attack.

The older patrolman dodged as best he could but gasped in pain. The blade bit into the side of his ribs. The girl pulled out the blade as he began to fall to sheathe it but her armed was yanked back unexpectedly. Koben pulled on the sword bloodying his hand in the process. As he fell he hooked his foot around her neck and pulled his knee to his chest to bring the girls head along for the impact. The girl gave a silent moan as her head met the concrete leaving a small dent. Her body flashed a layer of light.

Jaune threw the parasol to the other side of the room and pulled his handcuffs. He saw it enough times in Linda to know that the girl was running out of aura. Koben kicked her hand loose of the sword and backed away to give Jaune room. The man lifted his hand that covered the wound and grimaced. The cut was only a few inches deep but it kept him from doing anymore without causing it to bleed more. "Make it quick Jaune!"

Jaune slid to the girl as she kicked where he once stood. He twisted his waist and brought a foot hard to her face. Her cheek turned red from the hit but she quickly rolled to her feet and kicked the cuffs from his hands.

The patrolman raised a fist to her abdomen and the following woosh from her mouth confirmed what he already saw. She was finally out of juice. Jaune raised his arm to deliver the downward knock out punch to her face.

From the bent over position, the girl grabbed his extended arm and twisted her body and wrapped her legs around Jaune's neck and twisted so her knees were along his shoulders. She smirked at him as she grabbed his hair with a clenched fist and pulled. Jaune felt his head pulled back as her feet kicked his back when she flipped the both of them into the air. Jaune flew into the ceiling and landed in a flop on the floor. The impact exacerbated his already bruised body and he groaned. It took him precious seconds to clear his head as his vision blurred.

Jaune looked to see the girl had gotten to her umbrella and had sheathed the sword. The patrolman struggled to get to his feet when he heard a noise. The pair both looked outside. The sound of several airship engines lifted from the wreckage of the crashed Valian military ships.

The girl looked back at him and gave him a victorious smirk.

-o-

Qrow dodged the attack. He kept himself in the bay with the weapons. He only wished there was more room to fight. His men were ill-equipped to fight huntsmen. The three against one was at best, a stalemate. But he knew he should have been killed ages ago. They were stalling.

The roar of an engine alerted him something had gone wrong. They would never have tried to take off. The horns blared. It was the signal to evacuate. That meant that they had complete control of the ship. "Withdraw. Get off the ship before it gets too high to jump." Qrow yelled before he raised his scythe and spun to release several cuts of aura to give the group cover.

Qrow stared at the man across from him. The pirate waved them off the ship not the least bit interested in pursuing the fleeing Valian forces. Qrow was the last one to jump off the ship. It had already risen well above the tree line which forced him to adjust his landing. He landed in time to see all four Valian ships rise and follow the two tug ships.

The man shook his head and uselessly hit his fist against the tree trunk. "Ain't that a kick in the pants…"

-o-

Jaune turned from the rising airships to the girl. "It wasn't about the weapons was it?" They had all missed a key clue. The Schnee ship was a stolen ship. But they never scuttled it. They _kept_ _it. "_ You needed more ships."

The girl laughed silently as the ships took off uncontested tethered by the two ships that arrived after the crash. She looked at her parasol and slid and snapped closed a button. Several explosion resounded in the hangars above them. The girl smiled at him before she raised a hand with a snap of a finger and then rubbing to fingers together.

Jaune laughed and shook his head. "I guess we can't anticipate what you didn't plan." He nearly fell back over on his rear but asked even if he didn't expect an answer, "Think it will ever work again?"

The girl shook her head. She glanced over to Koben who watched the conversation but could do little more try not to bleed out. He gave her a look that said he couldn't follow the chat at all. The girl exhaled disappointedly. She grinned at Jaune and pointed at him before she put her hands into open palms and shook them. She did a voiceless giggle as her finger made a circle then raised two fingers up again.

"I'd rather not. I liked talking better."

The girl gave the teen an almost fond smile. She lost it when Jaune struggled to stand. Her body froze for a second before Jaune felt her foot connect to his chest. He crumpled against the wall and slid down. He looked up to see the girl hover over him.

Jaune couldn't see her eyes with the sunlight that filtered into the hangar behind her. But he could feel the cold snap of metal against one of his wrist. "Wha-" he said unintelligibly. He looked to see himself handcuffed to desk. "What are you doing?"

The girl did not let him finish as she leaned down and moved closer to his face. Jaune gasped for a second as he felt her breath close to his mouth. He noticed her off colors eyes suddenly match in the lightest blue he had ever seen…

"OWW!"

The girl bit his lip until it bled. She pulled away slightly to look at the teen before she licked his bleeding lip that matched her split one from their previous fight. She tapped his cheek lightly with her hand as her eyes reverted to brown and pink.

The girl sauntered toward the open hangar. She knew it was time to go. Jaune called after her, "You had all the time in the world in the hangar, why didn't you just kill me? None of us would have been the wiser."

She turned back and gave him a smile. She crossed arms back and forth and moved a fist to her heart. She shrugged at him before she added as an afterthought... Her hands moved with a pointed finger at him then made a fist that landed on the top of her open palm of her hand and gestured with her thumb to her self.

The girl opened her parasol and inspected it. She looked to the metal door that sealed them off from the rest of the world. All three of them could hear the noise as people finally realized the fight was over in the control room. She looked and drank in the young man's confused look one last time.

Jaune saw her mouthed out to him with that same fond smile.

 _Goodbye,_

Then she was gone.

Koben groaned from his spot on the floor. In an exhausted confused voice muttered. "What?"

Jaune stayed silent, not sure what just happened. It did not take long for the crew to enter the control room when the room went silent. Jaune waved the crewmen in. "Report to Avery, the saboteur got away. It was the girl we encountered earlier."

Jaune sighed as he searched his pocket for his key. He saw a few crewmen hover around Koben. One had a first aid kit with them.

"How are you Koben?" Jaune struggled to get up and grimaced at the pain that ran across his entire back. He staggered over to Koben who just waved as an actual medic arrived and cut open his shirt.

"Dandy." He wince as they cleaned and stitched the wound.

"He'll be fine. He was lucky that the wound was shallow and long rather than short and entering between his ribs. We'll send him to the hospital in Central when we are done where and we can secure a shuttle."

Jaune nodded. "I'll go see about that. It sounded like there aren't too many of those. Any word on the ships that went down?"

The man shook his head. "My team and another were called in from Central. We were ferried here quickly but the rest of my team took the shuttle to the crash site. We won't know much until they come back."

Jaune nodded as he trudged his way out the door. The sting on his lip made him think about the girl. Jaune shook his head and went upstairs to meet with Andrew and Avery.

-o-

Jaune felt the wrap around his torso was tighter than he wanted. It didn't let him bend and his breathing was hard enough without it. Jaune listened to the reports as they came in from the Port and Valian crew members. It took nearly seven hours to figure out what happened and how it happened to satisfy a inquiry that was bound to happen.

Qrow sat on a bench while he rubbed his hand through his hair. They had communicated with dispatch hours ago in Vale about the theft and the damages. "The girl knew what she was doing. Disgustingly so. She targeted The Ports' specific ship engines to make sure they had no pursuers and the turret shots they used on the Valian ships were good shots that made the ships lose altitude and control. As soon as they could, they used their ships to tugboat the stolen ones once they were able to switch to back up power and emergency engines."

Andrew sat next to his hospital bed. "And like with the last robbery, it was quick and precise. No one was injured beyond the actual crash landing. Your soldiers could have defended an airborne raid. But as soon as the ships crashed, they were a disorganized mess."

Qrow narrowed his eyes. "We deeply underestimated the kind of people we were working against and we paid for it."

"What is to be done now?" Jaune asked. He had never seen anything like this.

Qrow gave the teen an unconcerned shrug. "With the crates now gone, and ships stolen a new investigation will piggyback off what we already know. Vale is going to be working on this one for a while. You may hear from me from time to time. Just to refresh my self on today's incident and your last one with the girl. Any insights at the moment you wanted to share before my ship takes off?" Qrow looked over to Jaune and teased, "Other than the girl giving you the worlds most erotic lip sore?"

The three patrolmen shook their heads. Jaune kept his lips closed. That burned his lower lip.

-o-

Scuro smiled on the deck of his new ship. He called for all ships to make landing and he was answered with a round of cheers. Several ships in their new _armada_ landed. The small settlement was built by them and they had already plans for these ships that required modifications.

The girl smiled behind him but did not spare the effort to really communicate with him since they had escaped. Scuro turned around to her, "I owe Roman several favors now. I trust we can keep this between ourselves about our extracurricular activities? No need to stir a hornet's nest with our employer unless we need to. She got her stupid weapons back and we got our ships."

The man turned and barked orders to his crewmen and they split apart when they landed. Scuro walked off the ship and the girl followed. "I'll let you all know if they have another flub up like this. Thank you kid. Let Roman know I am good for anything whenever he needs it."

The girl blinked at him for a moment before she agreed with a nod and pulled out her scroll. Before she sent the message she looked over to Scuro. He seemed to revel in the victory. She waved at him to get his attention.

"Yes girlie?"

She waved her hand in front of her chest in a circle then let it move outward to her side.

Scuro smiled exasperated. "I think it would be easier to give you a pen and paper. But I think that was everything. You are free to go unless you want to stick around."

She smiled and shook her head before her parasol opened and she disappeared.

The girl teleported above a well-worn couch and sank into it with a non-vocal sigh.

"It went well then?" The girl sat up lazily and nodded. She started to yawn. Now that she was safe she allowed the fatigue to catch up.

Roman walked out of the living room with a newspaper in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. He wore dress pants and button up shirt with a high collar. The girl stared at the blue shirt and gave him a thumbs up.

Her mentor snorted. "Didn't think you liked the color." He tilted his head at her usual three colors of brown, white and pink. "Well Neo. When you are rested up, I would love to hear all about it."

That got the girl to stand up straight right off the couch. She looked at him horrified before she grabbed her parasol and disappeared.

Roman shook his head with a laugh. "I really hope that doesn't come to bite me in the ass later." Before he took his sip of morning coffee.

-o-

Jaune sighed as the ships finally left the port. He waited a good half hour to make sure there were no more explosions. When he was satisfied he bid Avery a good day from the top of the communications tower before he walked out the gates. He did not feel like running unless he needed to. It allowed him one thing he never really did as he grew up. The simple ability to see the forest as it was and not the threat it is.

The patrolman's body was sore and again like the last major crisis, he was banned from any patrolmen activities for a week. Jaune did not bother to the crazy week will be the last one for a while.

Jaune was not eager to let Linda know. But she did show restraint the last few mornings. Maybe it would not be that bad.

The patrolman opened his scroll. He was seriously thinking of calling Gordon to invite Linda over to chat for a bit. Jaune flipped to the contact list. Gordon was only one of three entries. His parents did not even own a scroll. Gordon's was only in there because Linda demanded it.

Eventually, Jaune decided against it for now. He would rather just enjoy the slow walk while he can. The blonde sighed when he eventually made it home. The slower pace took longer than he remembered. Normal escorts could take hours from different locations on Anvil but that was usually with cargo. The pace he started it nearly took an hour.

Once inside he relaxed on the couch and was about to put his foot on the coffee table when he saw something propped up on it against an book. Jaune lowered his eyes. It was an instant picture of him on his walk. A pair of lips with the telltale split on the lower lip imprinted over his entire face. Below in lipstick were the words:

 _The name's Neo._ _See you around Jaune._

Jaune reflexively licked his own bite mark before he walked outside and looked around. If he ever saw her again, would he be able to apprehend her as he was now? He looked around one more time. The settlement was busy this late into the afternoon. Jaune felt he should be more concerned she knew where he lived but didn't. It never felt personal when they fought. Jaune thought back to their conversation. Her hands moved in several gestures that Jaune seemed to just understand. _You understand me._ That was what she said. The patrolman shook his head as he refocused. One last look around the area would be fruitless. She would have been long gone by now.

Jaune went inside to get a jacket. He had to speak with his dad. The cold air kept him alert and the sores reminded him he should _not_ be exerting himself like he was. But those thoughts were quickly forgotten when he made it to his parents house. The familiar _tink_ from the smithy sounded away.

Jaune walked into the smithy and stood just inside the door. His father hammered away on a metal bar several more times before he released the clamp and dipped the weapon in the oil. Nathaniel looked up to see his son. "Hey son. Didn't expect to see you today."

Jaune walked in and watched his father pull out the metal. It was a curved blade this time. It had several folds already woven into the metal. He finally began to shape it again with a few swings of his hammer. When his father started he could not rightly stop. So Jaune shouted over the swings. "I had a rough day today and almost forgot to ask about Linda's practice sword."

"It's done and on the shelf over there. It didn't take too long since I wanted to keep it blunted. It should have the right balance for her though. She swung it a few time yesterday when it was just the sword and tang."

Jaune lifted the sword. It was a little long for him. Even at six feet, Linda towered over him by a few inches. Days ago, he would have been satisfied defending himself against a weapon. Jaune set the blade down, thoughtful. "I ran into someone a few times this week who could have easily killed me and my partners if we allowed her to draw her weapon…"

Nathaniel gave the hammer one last swing before he lifted the blade again to inspect it. "I assume you are all ok since you are here?"

"Yeah, we're fine. Koben was stabbed but the medic said it was superficial. Andrew just said he's being a baby." That made his father laugh. "Dad, is there a way for me to compete against an armed aura user?"

"If you three couldn't take on this person as is, then they would have to been really good Jaune. I've seen you spar. You are actually capable to fight most people who are huntsmen if you needed to regardless if they had a weapon or not. You just don't notice since you spar with the same people all the time."

"I get that Dad. But Neo just toyed with us. If I had trained with a weapon, do you think it would have made a difference?"

Nathaniel let the weapon sit in the oil while he really looked at his son. "Sometimes, having a weapon escalates the fight Jaune. By being unarmed, most people don't suddenly pull their own weapons on patrolmen."

Jaune scratched his head. "I get that. I really do."

The father pulled the weapon back out of the oil and moved to the furnace where he set the curved blade in and let it sit for a while. "Jaune." Nathaniel took a moment to organize his thoughts. "If you had been trained with a weapon. You may have made a difference." He interrupted his son before the boy could say another word. " _If_ you had trained it would be about the same as what you learned already. You would never be able to take a hit head on. You would have to be confident you can be faster or aware enough to withdraw if you find you are overwhelmed."

Jaune looked at his father. "I would like to try."

Nathaniel looked at his son and seemed to agree with what he saw. The man closed his eyes and repressed the unidentifiable emotion in his chest. "Linda will come get her sword in her own time, but you should come back in a week. I need to make some modifications to Crocea Mors for you."

Jaune gave the man a grateful smile. "Thank you."

The old man patted his son on the back. "Don't thank me yet. How's your left arm?"

Jaune was confused at the question, "It's fine, why?"

This father gave him a cryptic smile before he shoo'ed his son out the door.

Nathaniel watched his son go with a smile. "Really that boy…" While his current project relaxed after the last quench, he went to the back room where the shield half of Crocea Mors laid in fractured pieces. "Now how am I going to make you work the way I want. Jaune will never survive an impact with a shield against huntsmen. But there is also his future to consider…" The man hummed while he thought of his weeks plans fly out the window. "I may have to go to Vale for pieces on this one."

A/N: Decided to make this a collection of one-shots. We'll see how long this series actually goes. I don't know why but I was feeling good about how Neo turned out. I didn't even plan to put any cameo's in this chapter, but they all just kinda filled in on their own.

Edit: quick edit update, All-seeing Hunter pointed out some mistakes. Thank you for that.


	3. Chapter 3 Full Circle

Fox raised his head and gave a slight smile at the sound of the girls as they repressed their yawns. The rattle of the aircraft did little to keep them alert in the predawn hours. The team was roused early in the morning to make the flight. The ship was scheduled to land at their mission site by the crack of dawn. Fox simply kept his eyes closed, not the least bit worried about falling asleep. He felt the ship hum against his back and noted the differences from the normal Bullheads. This one was more silent and far more steady. His team was informed that it was a faster transport for the longer ride. It was appropriate for the higher risk mission. This would be the first time team CFVY left the comfort of Vale and the protected walls around the kingdom for the frontier.

The aircraft shifted as it yawed slightly. "I take it we are here?" Fox asked before he secured his wrist guards. The ship seemed to answer the question for him. The vessel lurched as it dipped to descend, leaving his stomach behind somewhere hundreds of meters above them.

Coco looked out the window to the base below them. She nearly pressed her nose to the glass when she answered their blind teammate. "We're here. It's a large compound with multiple hangars Fox."

There was a shutter and click as Velvet lowered her camera. It fell secured to her chest by the leather strap that was worn around her neck, "And a _lot_ of guns are embedded into the cliff side."

Their escort added as the ship made contact with the ground, "Quite right." He was a slim man with green hair. Doctor Oobleck raised his glasses as the doors opened to the cold morning air. "This is just one of several settlements across the plateau. The entirety of the mission will be on the plateau. Team Coffee, welcome to the frontier settlement, Anvil."

Velvet's faunus rabbit ears tilted slightly as she bent over to nudge her partner. "Wake up Yatsu, we're here."

Yatsuhashi opened his black eyes with a smile that tugged at his lips. "I was not asleep little one." The mountain of a man stood and exhaled at the ceiling height. He had to lean over slightly as he followed his teammate out. Team CFVY were all impressed as they walked onto the concrete deck. The place was busy as any airfield they had seen.

"Doctor, I didn't think some small settlement would have something this large. Wouldn't it attract grim even at this altitude?" Coco asked while she looked to the sky, seeing a total lack of grim.

"The turrets would be the reason for that Miss Adel. The guns are a valuable aid for ships seeking shelter from a grim attack but they are also used by aircraft in Anvil to draw flying grim into the range of those guns. The land-based grim are taken care of by huntsmen like yourself on the ground. For most of you who have grown and spent most of your lives in Vale, I expect a lot of what you see may disturb you at first. Settlements like this one have to take drastic measures at times to ensure the safety of their home."

The group of teenagers remained silent as they were led off the airfield and were inspected by check out. They had arrived at the gates where a small caravan waited to be escorted by three huntsmen. "If you will excuse me CFVY, I shall ask if they are going to Central, and if so, would they care for company."

Coco waited until their escort was gone before she tilted her head. "Yatsu, do you know what he meant by drastic measures?"

Yatsuhashi had a good idea what the doctor meant. "In my village, we had to take up residence alongside the mountain cliffs and grow our rice paddies along them to live. From what I understood when we flew over, this place grows grain. That means they need many people for both, labor and protectors, to have the coverage to sustain the settlement. That leaves a lot of opportunity for grim attacks out in the open."

Professor Oobleck came back in time to add, "It's more crops than you think as well. Anvil provides Vale with a significant percentage of produce and cattle. If Anvil were to fall, Vale would suffer from a food shortage for years until a new settlement could be established. Come, the huntsmen would love the company to Central. That is where we will be staying for the duration of our mission."

The group they had walked alongside was drawn by horses that carried several carriages worth of cargo from the ships to the town. The three huntsmen in the group took a formation one on either side of the carriages and one far ahead as a scout. Coco noted the simple clothes. Hard leather on one, light chain-mail on the other. They all used similar weapons. _So none of them were from the academies?_ She wondered. There were other ways to become a huntsman. But to see three together like this, you would think at least one of them would have come from the same school.

"Excuse me?" Coco asked.

"Yes miss?" The blonde man half turned. His stubbled beard moved as he answered her.

"Where did you learn to become a huntsman?"

The man turned to his partner and they both laughed before he answered. "The same place you did." Coco blinked before she felt Velvet next to her. Coco waved Velvet's hand away in a shoo gesture. "So you made your own weapons? Why use the basic ones?"

Coco ignored Fox who groaned as she started to actually ask questions. Not much was going to stop her until she was satisfied. The two experienced huntsmen smiled and did not look offended.

"Miss, when do you think was the last time I was at a major city to get parts to service such a specialized piece of equipment?"

Coco humm'ed out loud. "But couldn't you just order the parts and do it here if it's been that long?"

The blonde smiled. "You must have just recently built yours."

Coco frowned. "How did you know?"

"Most huntsman who have built their own weapons, start when they have all the time in the world and likely in school. We don't have the luxury nor time to work on something we built as young adults. And getting the parts out this far would take weeks if we were lucky. Being out here with no weapon for that long on duty? Well some of us could do it. But then they would forgo weapons in the first place. No Miss. On missions this long you tend to give up a lot of things you would find pride in your youth." To the doctor who walked with them. "First years?"

Doctor Oobleck smiled. "Yes." That seemed to end the conversation. Coco continued to hum to herself. Her arms crossed her chest and she tilted her head back and forth while she thought what the man said. Eventually, Coco took the lead along with a man named Alex to continue to ask questions. Team Coffee just let her go.

The older man walked with a confident weight to his steps. _He must have done this for years_. Coco thought to herself. She looked over her shoulder to her team. Velvet and Yatsu took turns describing to Fox what they saw. His semblance took too much energy to allow him to look around for long periods of time and if the pace was any indicator, they would still be walking for a while before they arrived at their destination.

The leader of CFVY wondered what she would do when she was out of school. They had only started five months ago. But she couldn't imagine to just settle on some kind of protection job in a small settlement like this. The group stopped at Alex's call. Coco rolled her eyes as she heard the shutter snap one more time from Velvet's camera. Ahead of him, Alex's teammate seemed to have stopped to speak to someone before the man disappeared past them. The stranger was a blur as he ran past her towards the port.

The man ahead of them waved. "It was just Andrew. He wanted to check to make sure the team had arrived on time."

Alex smiled. "Sounds like him."

Velvet's curiosity got the better of her, "Is that another huntsmen?"

"No," Alex answered with a shake of his head. "He is a patrolman."

Yatsu raised an eyebrow. "The settlement is large enough to have law enforcement?"

Alex laughed. "The Port, where you all just landed isn't even considered one of the settlements. Anvil isn't just one settlement. It's the name of the Plateau. The settlements themselves are about four times as large and there are five of them besides the port. We have three patrolmen in Anvil."

Yatsuhashi gave an uncharacteristic "Huh."

Coco looked to Yatsu for an explanation.

Yatsu took his time processing the information before he noticed Coco's look. "The patrolmen are like I said before, law enforcement. They effectively take control of the settlements in the events of emergencies, circumventing the local government. They enforce the law and coordinate with huntsmen in the event that a grim invasion occurs. What surprised me was that there are so many of them in Anvil. Usually, for even a large settlement there is only one. Rarely two. I've never heard of three in a single area before."

Coco lowered her shades to look at her teammate. "Wouldn't you want more law enforcement though? Why keep it to one sheriff?"

Doctor Obleck seemed content to let Yatsuhashi answer when the man looked at his teacher. Yatsu apologized to Alex who just shook his head and gestured for the teen to go ahead and explain. "They are also trained fighters Coco. They specialize in hand to hand combat. They have to be able to disarm anyone that violates the law. That includes huntsmen."

Fox listened silently to the conversation as it finally ended. The group had taken that bit of information and digested it on their own. But he could feel the energy from Velvet who walked next to him. The steady cadence allowed the caravan to move without incident but Fox huffed at Velvet's polite patience. "Just blurt out your question Velvet or you're not going to get an answer."

The girl nudged his side for being rude.

"What is it miss?" Alex looked over his shoulder.

"Yatsu still didn't explain why it is odd to have more than one? I mean, we combat each other all the time."

Alex laughed. "You've had your aura unlocked for a long time, haven't you young lady?"

Velvet nodded, she unlocked her aura when she was eight. "Yes, I did sir. I don't really remember a time when I didn't have aura."

Alex's amused looked moved to her teammates. "I take it, that it is the same for all of you? You all don't remember what it was like before you had your aura activated?" Every one of them would have to have been similarly talented to be accepted into Beacon.

Fox raised his hand. "I do." He did not add anything beyond that but his shoulders shivered slightly at the memory.

Alex gave the teen a nod. "Then maybe you can't appreciate it why they are so rare. They still have their aura locked."

Coco looked up at that.

Alex continued, "Patrolmen are just normal civilians. They did not have the ability to unlock their own auras naturally. You know how dangerous it can be to have it forcefully unlocked as well. If you don't you will by the end of the year I'm sure." Alex spared a look to Doctor Oobleck who nodded his agreement. "But there is still a need for law and order. When the Patrolmen were first created, no one who had aura would want the job. Huntsmen are a unique breed of people and we attract grim. Civilians usually don't want that kind of danger inside the village walls unless it was absolutely needed. So normal people had to find a way to enforce themselves and the laws. Even if it's against people like us."

"But huntsmen wouldn't hurt people."

"That's enough Velvet. Not everyone who unlocks their aura is a huntsman. And like you saw from a few of our upperclassmen, any fool can get drunk." Coco said not unkindly.

Yatsu patted her shoulder gently. The girl's ears dropped slightly.

Alex went on with an almost admiring tone. "They train for years before they are confident enough to fight against aura users. Remember, it's more than just a drunken brawls. They investigate crimes as well. And even as huntsmen we encounter the rare criminal with aura. In Vale, that means the police calls on your headmaster and his huntsmen. Out here? With no payroll? That's the job of the patrolmen."

-o-

The morning was always a special time for Jaune. It allowed him to relax while he ran for his early patrol. The late spring air made him ready for the warm months. The forest seemed to agree with the sentiment. Most of the wildlife was about and only disturbed when he ran by. It was a good sign. It meant there was no grim in the area.

Jaune slowed as he entered Central. He bid the guards a good morning from under his hood of his Pumpkin Pete's hoodie. The cartoon bunny was hidden away underneath his blue jersey. The guards gave him a polite, "Good morning Jaune." before he made his way to the office.

Alex and Koben wanted to have a meeting before they started the first day of the migration. They had more people volunteer than they had in decades. But Anvil was happy to accommodate. Most people could not afford to move on their own. But when the population reached a certain point, Anvil would find and fund anyone who was willing to leave Anvil to prevent the settlement from becoming too big of a target for the grim.

For many people who were not happy living in Anvil, the migration was a way out.

Jaune lowered his hood as he walked inside. His blonde hair had gotten longer since he had moved out of his family's house and it pooled around his neck and out of the base of his hoodie's neckline. His long hair was an annoyance he was reminded of as it clung to his neck. Jaune ran a hand over his neck to pull it out of the way.

"Good morning."

"Morning Jaune." Koben waved.

"I confirmed that the huntsmen escort arrived this morning and are currently walking with Alex's morning shipment. They should be here in an hour or so. Group A is ready to depart and will gather in Central at noon. Koben is responsible for the people in Central for the first day of departures. Jaune, you have The granary organization and group B tomorrow at eleven in the morning and Wednesday's organization and group C at noon in The Houses. I am taking both of your patrols when you are providing scouting reports." Andrew turned his head to Koben who was happily drinking his morning coffee. "Koben you will be taking my patrol on both of Jaune's days."

Koben sipped his cup one more time and exhaled a happy sigh. "Got it. Sorry. Astel did not get a chance to buy any yesterday with the usual store closing. I've been drinking this all morning."

Jaune looked over the map for his two areas. "How did the detachment look?"

"It's what we expected. A bunch of trainee's and their escort. Expect the kids to be the ones running the show Jaune. Their escort will just let them handle it. If you need to tell them anything, tell it to their designated leader first. No need to butt heads when we don't have to."

Jaune nodded. "Will do. Anything I should expect? The last migration was before my time." Jaune could actually say the last migration was the reason he even became a patrolman. He shook the thoughts away. It was weird thinking he wanted to travel the world to see friends that left Anvil. Jaune had not thought of them in years.

"No, most families will organize themselves. Just make sure you're thorough when you scout for the escort."

-o-

Team CVFY walked past the stone and metal gates of Central with the carts ahead of them. The walls themselves were nearly twenty feet tall with guards that patrolled on top of the wall itself and the entrance. Each wore a sidearm. An indicator they did not have aura. Fox listened as Velvet took the time to describe what she saw between clicks from her camera. He smiled slightly as he smelled the whiff of food, sweat, dirt, and oil.

"It's really full, isn't it?" Velvet finally added once she was done describing the settlement.

Coco called behind her. "It is. A lot of people are gathering."

Doctor Oobleck added. "This will be the first group you will be escorting back to the port today. They will be moving off the plateau to new lands. You will have a patrolman with you at all times to guide you through the paths and to scout for you."

Coco raised an eyebrow. "Is that necessary? We were just taking a group of these people, right? We could easily handle them and protect the villagers."

The professor smiled. "You misunderstand Ms. Adel. This entire group is your first escort. Expect for it to take all afternoon and likely into the evening if they are slow." Coco and Yatsu surveyed the group. There were easily three hundred and fifty men, women, and children present. "The other groups you will be escorting through the week will come from the other settlements."

That fact made team CVFY focus on the enormity of their responsibility.

Coco's first thought was to ask why so many people were leaving but she was interrupted by Fox who patted her shoulder. He silently shook his head before he faced at the mass of people he could feel nearby. He had a good idea what her next question was. And it would do no one any good to voice it when the villagers were watching. She patted his hand on her shoulder. "I'll ask that later. Thanks for the reminder, Fox."

"The patrolmen you will meet will take the task of guiding you through the safest paths with the minimal amount of grim."

Andrew and Koben walked to the group. They were waiting for their time to greet their escort. "We will also draw away grim if we deem the pack is too large, or if the grim itself is too large to safely handle. Greetings huntsmen. My name is Andrew, the lead patrolman for Anvil. Your scout from Central will be Koben here. Jaune is already at the granary to prepare his group for tomorrow."

As Coco asked for details Fox took the time to face the two men. Indeed they had no awakened aura. But he could feel their physical presence. His eyes opened with blank milky eyes and his semblance allowed him to see them. Two firm souls, aged with experience stood in front of him. The shadows of the others felt like background noises. It was an odd experience for him to see something so different from aura users and the civilians. After a moment of staring he refocused on what was being said as Coco stated his position in the escort.

-o-

Koben stopped to rest in the middle of the road. He found a good route for the escort as they made their exodus across the forest. The group was making good time with the dry road. The good weather was something he was pleased to see. It would mean the ships would fly out on time. In the last migration the final escort had to detour a few times to avoid a large unexpected mass of grim. Koben himself had to run interference and get some support from the port to help clear it out so they could proceed. That whole affair pushed back the timetable by hours. The overall migration was forced to last a full week rather than the planned three days.

This migration was much larger than he had expected and every bit of good weather will help get this group out quickly and safely. Koben allowed himself a moment to feel sad to see a few of them go. His favorite restaurant and grocer closed last week and they will be moving their families south closer to Vale. _But ultimately it won't matter to Anvil. The settlement always grows. The place makes money and it will draw people whether they knew the danger or not._ Koben gave a frustrated puff of air at that thought. Ultimately he looked around and decided to scout the path one more time for the next mile before he turned back to the group.

Koben was disappointed when Coco did not jump at his approach like she did the last few times before. "The next mile is clear on both sides. If we can keep it to the main road we will make good time. I'll try my best to make sure grim are drawn away from it."

Coco nodded while the wagons started the call to start moving again. "Thank you Koben. Coffee, take your positions. Let's go!" The Caravan started its trek again.

Koben let it get it ahead of him. At the end, Doctor Ooblek walked at the rear. "All is clear for them?"

Koben smiled. "It is. We wanted to make sure this group had no issues. We had a few huntsmen curate this route for us."

Oobleck thought for a moment, "The group did seem a bit too large. When did you have time to have someone- Ah, the man Andrew."

Koben laughed quietly. "Yes, he was doing the final walk through when he found your team this morning."

Obleck faced forward as the group walked. "I had wondered why the route was so clear on the way to Central. I had first thought it was the scout that was clearing grim ahead of our journey to the main settlement. But he was actually doing one final sweep before the civilians walked it."

"Yeah. We won't have that luxury tomorrow. But this _is_ the largest group. The others will be much smaller."

Koben walked side by side with the doctor for a bit longer in comfortable silence. The teens ahead of them were talking with various people about their destinations. "I appreciate the tact your red-headed student made in interrupting the leader Coco.'

"I am sure he did not like the idea of so many people emitting negative emotions during the trip. How large of a chunk is this taking out of Central?'"

"It's nearly eight percent of the population of Central. The other settlements will be a little higher percentage but fewer people. Anvil will lose roughly seven percent of the population with this migration. It's the largest I've ever seen."

"Will it impact the production at all?"

Koben shook his head. "No. At worst, the workers will have fewer amenities. But it leaves us patrolmen in a bit of a bind. Would you be willing to do me a favor?"

Obleck raised his glasses higher upon his nose. "What is it and I shall decide."

"Would you speak with our youngest patrolman Jaune. He trains every day for combat both against us and the local huntsmen. He is the age where he could become a Beacon student. Both Andrew and I would be his sponsor. We have offered him the option to unlock his aura last month. However, he refused."

"Did he give a reason why?"

Koben shook his head sadly. "He's not been forthcoming. He is talented. We had thought he would have jumped at the option to unlock his aura. It was his questions on becoming a huntsman that brought him to us. But that was years ago."

Oobleck stayed silent but pushed up his glasses along his nose, "I'll speak with him."

"Thank you."

Barthalamew Oobleck did not let it show, but he was surprised by the gratitude in the other man's voice.

-o-

Linda sat bored while she watched the granary below her. She had admitted to herself hours ago she probably should not be sitting on one of the grain silos but it was the best spot to watch the entirety of the settlement. Her dog ears perked as they tilted slightly behind her. Several children began to play in the area. The huntsmen looked down to the kids. "Oie! Not around the silos! Go back to the main courtyard!" The children gave a scream in surprise before they picked up their ball and ran back giggling all the way.

She smiled at them. There would be fewer children after this week. Most families that had young children were leaving. She understood. And deep down if she ever had children she was not sure she would want to raise them in a place like this either. She blushed at the thought before she stood. "Ok, enough of that."

Linda jumped and fell down the forty feet. She landed gracefully at the base of the silo and sauntered off to a new lookout. Her sword tapped her thigh in rhythm to her steps. Her current assignment was to be on the lookout for grim in the actual settlement, but this far deep into the settlement it was more of a token task than a real job. She was always thankful that it was only for a single day for any huntsman. It was boring.

Linda stepped out of the shadow of the silos and looked up at them. The silo's themselves were protected near the center of the village near the safe houses. Linda ignored the chatter of the adults that walked by when she stepped onto the main road. Many were hurried as they made their last minute preparations. Linda's nose twitched at a group. They smelled like anxiety and relief. It was the same as last migration too. A lot of people never gave any indicator if they wanted to leave until the migration opened as an option. It was just too bad that this time seemed to have hurt a few people. If there was a silver lining to this whole migration, the guy who had constantly asked her out was leaving with the migration. _Although I will kinda miss him._ She thought with a smile.

"Tripod. Get over here."

Linda's ears perked as she turned to her favorite patrolman. His head was covered by his signature hoodie with only a few tufts of blonde hair poking out the top and bottom around his neck. "Jaune! Wha'cha need?"

"Have you heard from Ruge? The mayor has not received her official notice that she was closing, but Ruge has already boarded everything up and left."

Linda frowned, "No I haven't seen her. I thought she was leaving today. It's not too late, is it? Do you know what will happen if she didn't sign the documents?"

"She will lose a good chunk of the finance for the move."

"It's only four, maybe you can make it in time."

Jaune opened his scroll as it blipped to life with the message _Local Connection Only_. Jaune ignored it as he contacted Koben. "Jaune, what can I do for you?"

"Is Ruge traveling with your group?" A minute passed before Ruge, an older plump woman with tanned rosy cheeks popped into the camera. She gave him a warm smile. "Hello Ruge. Do you know where you left your papers for closing your store?"

The woman with the dark brown hair blushed. "I think I left it in one of my briefcases on its way to Vale."

Jaune laughed. "I'll be on my way to meet your convoy to have you re-sign those papers if that's alright?"

"Please do Jaune."

Jaune closed the link. "I'll be off then. Later Linda. Oh, before I forget, we still on for sparing tomorrow morning? I know you were supposed to play tour guide."

"Of course. Later Jaune." She sighed as she watched him run off. Linda could feel the tension leave the civilians as Jaune left. She didn't like what that meant. But then again that's why these ones were leaving. The woman thought she would stay longer with her adopted father, but the more she thought about it. She realized maybe it was a good time to move on as well.

-o-

"Incoming. Seven o'clock and approaching fast." Fox called from the west side of the caravan. "It's a patrolman."

Velvet smiled from the other side of the wagon. "You can already tell?"

Fox nodded. "They are a lot different from everyone else. It's hard to explain." They just were.

Team Coffee was given the signal to keep the civilians moving. Koben broke off to meet the other patrolmen as the guy slowed and came to a stop at the end of the caravan. While the wagons kept the pace going, parents soon had to take turns resting on and off the wagons to make sure the group kept to the schedule. Fox let himself slow past Velvet and reached for the nearest wagon to steady himself to keep himself walking forward. He let his semblance drop and the vibrant world of colors dropped away so he could concentrate on listening. Several meters behind him he could hear the new patrolman's young voice. Apparently, the patrolman shared the sentiment.

"When Andrew said that it would be a bunch of kids, I didn't expect them to still be older than me. I bet the Central group loved that."

Koben and Doctor Oobleck laughed. "They didn't voice it, but a few of the normally vocal ones were not pleased. I think they only didn't say anything because of Barty here. Besides, you remember Linda was considered young when you met her and she was already seventeen at the time."

Jaune greeted the woman that walked with them. "Good afternoon Mrs. Baugh. Here you go." Jaune pulled out a folder from under his sweater and Roge signed the familiar paperwork. "Thank you. I'll be sure this is processed before you land in Vale."

"Thank you very much Jaune." She paused to glance around. She looked to the group ahead of them and spotted her husband. He held his small daughter close but seemed to not want to look their way. She reached gave a frustrated sigh before she hugged the young man. "It's not your fault child. Good luck."

Jaune just felt the sudden lump in his throat rob his ability to speak.

Jaune had purposefully stayed well behind the caravan. It would do no good to be seen by this lot. A complicated knot formed in the pit of his stomach as she returned to her husband. Jaune knew most of these people. A few noticed him. But their backs were purposefully turned away.

Koben patted the young man's shoulder. "It's fine Jaune."

Jaune forced himself to take a step back and pulled up the hood to cover his hair. "Y-you're right. I… I should go now. I shouldn't be with _this_ group. I will run ahead and let Avery know that he should expect you all in an hour and a half if you keep this pace. Koben, I'll see you tomorrow morning at the meeting. Barty, it was a pleasure."

The man waved just as the boy tightened the hood around his head and disappeared in a blur of speed. Fox felt him move as he ran by, a gust of wind followed in the teens' wake. Fox felt there was a story he probably shouldn't pry in. Which was why he sighed as Coco asked from the other side of the wagon. "What do you think that was about?"

Fox reactivated his semblance to look at his leader who had swapped places with Velvet when he was not paying attention.

But he still heard the Doctor murmur, "So that's the boy you wanted me to talk to?"

"It is."

-o-

Team CFVY collapsed in their chairs with various levels of exhaustion. The constant focus and alertness for hours on end tired them more than a day of training. It hit Fox and his use of his semblance the hardest. He tried to stay awake but he had eaten his dinner and silently dozed on the couch with his empty plate on his lap.

The patrolman Koben had been good as his word. He did most of the work by luring any grim away from the civilians. No one on the team even spotted a grim that day. Koben warned them that tomorrow would be a little rougher, but the trip itself will be a shorter one as the next settlement was closer to the port.

Coco looked around the room they all rested in. It was a huntsmen's safe house. The lounge room could easily hold forty people and more just to relax. They had been given a room on the third level for them all to rest but the group was just happy to finally have dinner.

"What do you all think of the mission so far?" Coco asked around her meat and potatoes. It was creamy with a hint of butter. While far from the meals she would have liked, it filled her stomach and warmed her up.

Yatsu hummed. "They made the day easy for us."

Velvet nodded and drank her juice. "I am thankful the patrolman guided us. I didn't realize there were so many roads that threaded through the forest." If there was one thing the group had not expected when they landed, it was the number of paths between two points. They had been told enough traffic flows through Anvil that the narrow paths couldn't accommodate both ways on a single road. The paths themselves allowed guides to avoid areas if there were grim in the area and put their clients at risk.

"I was referring to the trek to and from Central and The Port. If the route was normally that clear, they would not have hired someone outside to escort people. Even with that number of people, two local huntsmen could have done the job fine."

"Hiya!" A red-headed woman in her twenties plopped next to Yatsu. "My, aren't you a big one?" she patted Yatsu's armored arm gently before she looked over to Coco. "And you're right about that one. Since you all flew in today, we decided to clear out the route a little. I take it you're the leader?"

Coco set down her plate. "I am. Coco Adel, and you are miss?"

Linda smiled. "My name is Linda. I'll be your guide for your stay. If you need any information on Anvil or you looking for anything on your off time feel free to look for me. Except for the morning. I do morning training at The Houses. It's a good fifty minute run from here. If you wanted to join me it would probably take a little longer each way. I am not sure how long you would be able to keep my pace."

"We'll pass tomorrow. We will do our morning training in the courtyard out back."

Linda gave a smile. "Ok. Well, I'm here the same hours you all are. So just let me know. Have a good night!" She charmed the group with a smile as she waved with one hand back and forth. Coco smiled thinking the gesture likely got the girl out of some hot water with how cute it was.

Velvet giggled as Fox gave a snort before he settled back into a light snooze. "Poor guy is wiped. At least tomorrow will be a shorter one."

"Agreed little one, I think it would do him some good to ease the use of his semblance unless we call for it. I could not imagine using my own for the entire afternoon like he has done."

Coco finished her plate and looked at her partner. He seemed dead to the world. "I'll speak to him in the morning. I think I am going to make him sit out training tomorrow morning too. Just to make sure his mind is clear for the mission. Either of you have objections?"

The faunus and the swordsman both shook their heads in a no. The group chattered away a little longer before Velvet stood and began to take their plates. When the girl was gone Coco finally voiced something that had been bothering her. "What do you think of what's going on with everyone leaving and the patrolman?"

Yatsu gave the woman a patient smile. "Coco, are you doing this again?" It was more a question out of curiosity rather than the kind of exasperation she would have received from Fox.

"Come on Yatsu. You noticed how skittish this group was. Local wildlife made them jump on the way. And we both knew how apprehensive some of them were the closer we got to the end."

"A few were alarmed at how young we were as well." He allowed. Yastu looked over to see Velvet caught in some kind of conversation with a few old huntsmen. She giggled politely at something they said.

"Not to mention the young man that ran to the convoy. Those that noticed seemed to shrink into the carts until he left. The woman told him not to blame himself. But a lot of those people seemed to."

"Or they felt guilty about something too. Why don't you just ask? That Linda woman seemed willing to give us answers."

"I don't know… this seemed kinda personal."

Now Yatsuhasi gave her an exasperated look. "But not personal enough for you to feel no guilt about digging around."

Coco raised an eyebrow as she looked over her shades. He simply stared back, not the least bit cowed. Velvet returned with a grin. "These guys are a riot. Did you know there was a huge grim attack a few years ago? It's why so many people are moving."

Fox started laughing. The three stopped to look at him. Coco looked put off as she crossed her arms in a pout. "I thought you were asleep."

Fox leaned forward and rubbed the tiredness out of his eyes. "I was but I felt that my partner was being nosy again so I woke up."

Coco scowled but looked to Velvet. "So what did you hear?"

Velvet turned and pointed to the ornament on the wall. It was forced to lay on its side. The white broken half of a mask was too large to sit upright. The mask had a row of four empty holes but the mask was molded to give the sockets a constant furrowed look. "That, is the remains of a _real_ boarbatusk mask. It was one of two that attacked this particular settlement years ago."

Yatsu stood and walked to it. The others followed. With the group in front of the specimen, it was Fox who touched it first. The total lack of aura, the lack of anything organic that could have held aura made him pull his hand back.

Velvet snapped her camera and held it close to her chest. There was a slight awe in her voice. "It's real… This grim must have been huge."

"And there were two of them that big. When we arrived back in Central one was missing a leg but they both had destroyed the last defensive barrier for the settlement. The civilians were in mid evacuation before we had the chance to defend it." Linda walked up behind him while she sighed at it. Coco pressed her hand against it. The mask must have easily weight four hundred pounds on its own.

Yatsu looked around. There were quite a few huntsmen that live in Central. "Where was everyone?"

Linda pointed at the mask. "That one was an intelligent grim. We weren't sure how smart it was. But after two months of investigation, we were able to put together how it herded grim with its partner. The two knocked trees and warped travel lanes miles long to bring them to the plateau and helped them burrow up here from the base. We were not aware of the plan and only responded to the migration that was literally burrowing below our feet. That guy and its partner burrowed under the city defensive walls to bypass them and enter the settlement."

Velvet hugged herself. Yatsu moved his hands to her shoulders and squeezed them in support. The group took their time to stare at the mask. Its hollow eyes seemed to glare at them even after death.

Coco tried to imagine how large it was. "You said that one of them was missing a leg… So there must have been fighting. How many people died before you could respond?"

Alex walked next to the woman. "None." He nodded to that mask. "It was a miracle. We have the patrolmen to thank for that. The youngest one gave us the early alarm and distracted the grim pair for an hour by himself. That's how long it took from the time of the signal to our first response team to get there. He even managed to maim one with some equipment he cobbled together from our armory." If Coco thought he may have admired them when he first spoke of them on their way to Central that morning, there was no mistaking that respect now.

"You would _think_ it would be enough…"

Alex frowned and looked around before he spotted Obsidian. All four members of team CFVY turned to look. His charcoal black hair was short and he had a scowl on his face from his perch on card gambling table. The man was in his late thirties and clearly disgruntled. "You know they are scared Obs."

"Then they could have just quietly left. There was no need to stir up a hornet's nest." There were a few growls in agreement. Team Coffee looked around. They realized that everyone was listening to the story and no one was pleased with the turn it took.

Alex bid the group a good night before he went to speak with the disgruntled huntsmen.

"What happened?" Velvet asked quietly. Coco internally thanked the girl's curiosity. Fox would never let her hear the end of it if she asked.

Linda wrung her hands together unsure how to answer that. "We don't rightly know. One second the settlement was perfectly happy with Jaune. That's the young patrolman we were talking about. The next day it was like half of the people turned on huntsmen and patrolmen at the same time. There was a town hall that started with the volunteers who would want to leave Anvil since the population was so large. And it must have come from there."

Coco moved her head back as if she was slapped. "Wait, wait, wait. You mean these people are leaving because the place is _too_ populated?"

Linda smiled with a _mmhm_. "It happens every so often. When we reach a critical amount of people we start looking for volunteers to leave Anvil. If we have too many people, Anvil creates grim or worse, attract them from the river basin. One of our jobs is to monitor grim concentration. Not just killing them. We let the Mayor know when it reaches a certain point. Then it is up to them to sort out who will want to volunteer to move. The settlement pays for the cost, of course. But it seems so many more people are leaving this time and the coffer's running a little dry. A few huntsmen were thinking we may need to renew our own contracts."

Coco covered Fox's mouth to prevent him from interrupting her. "Why is that?"

Linda shrugged but said, "Our pay comes from the taxes. With this population dip, we'll all feel it a little. Huntsmen take up the majority of the budget though. I am not too concerned if it's across all the huntsmen. There are a lot of us. And the mayor always wants more, not less huntsmen protecting Anvil. Next year's budget will be on a much tighter chain so people worry."

-o-

Jaune stretched in his back yard. He did his best to clear his thoughts while he hopped on his feet. His gloves were tight around his fists and steel caps lined against his knuckles and fingers. "Ready for the next round Tripod!"

She thrust with the sword and it sang as it cut through the air. Jaune opened the palm of his hand and the metal plates laid against the bottom of his palm screeched as he pushed against the offending blade. He gripped his free hand and spun. The back of his hand slammed against the back of her head. She stumbled and rubbed the spot that was hit as she lowered her guard and started to walk away from him, their usual indicator for a time out. "Really?" Linda grumbled. She felt that through her dwindling aura.

 _Linda has gotten faster_. Jaune felt satisfied at the thought. He figured she would eventually. You could only get thrown around so many times before you had to adapt. Jaune called after her. "I nearly went for the ear out of habit."

Linda laughed as she raised her sword. "You so would have been dead if you did." Linda kept her body low as she ran at him. She slashed upwards before she adjusted her grip and pulled downward after he dodged the first attack. Jaune saw the hand grip change and flipped back to avoid the second strike. He kicked off the ground and landed another kick against the woman's shoulder to push her arms loose and kicked the sword into the ground where it buried itself into the earth a few inches. Before Linda could pull it out, Jaune slammed his foot against it before he used it as leverage to kick with his free leg. Linda raised her head up just in time to catch a tip of a steel toe to the chin that laid her flat on her back. Jaune caught himself hands on the ground and stopped in a hand stand to just tease her before he let his legs fall down as he gracefully completed the back flip.

She laid there a moment and sighed. "I missed it when you didn't have those metal plates. At least the only thing that hurt was my pride. Now it's usually my ass."

Jaune smiled as he kicked the tip of his steel toe against the ground with a few clinks. "Dad did say it was a good way to add weight. I don't have to rely on being able to lift huntsmen anymore. Which is nice when I spar with Alex." It was one of the things the experienced huntsman had on Jaune. Alex was just fast enough to adjust his weight to counter Jaune's throws. Normal throws would not work on him.

Linda sat up and stretched. "I would say its swords next. But I have to cut this short. Your escort should be at the grainary in a few hours. I need to meet up with them and guide them in."

Jaune nodded as he grabbed a towel and tossed it to her. "Did you need to clean up first?"

She waved her hand as she handed him the dulled practice sword. "Naw I'll clean up at home. Later Jaune." The girl picked up her own sword and latched it to her hip.

Jaune watched her go before he walked just inside the house door and hung up the practice sword. He paused as he looked at Crocea Mors. His father called it an odd tool. Granted that all huntsmen weapons had some kind of ammunition. As a strictly soldier only weapon, his was only a combination of blades and shield. Jaune's father said he had to get a little creative as he worked around the limitations.

Jaune couldn't physically handle the recoil and heat that huntsmen weapons tend to emit. The shield was on hand only to answer projectile dust attacks. Jaune looked at the clock. He still had a few hours. He picked up the sword and sheath and went to the center of the yard. Nathaniel Arc, Jaune's father, had told him to start with his left hand. It did not occur to Jaune until a month into training why the man insisted on it. Jaune unsheathed his sword with the right and spun the sheath in his left. He felt the slight shift in weight as the sheath edge collapsed into a handle with one edge lengthened to a blade while the other side flattened to a hard edge.

The patrolmen raised both blades, the left blade in front and practiced. Jaune's mind flowed through a number of things. What he planned to do for the day. What he should practice on with Linda tomorrow. What he would do after the migration was over….

Jaune finished the stroke with his left and spun to a low crouch to finish the strike with his right before he sighed at where that thought headed. Sweat dripped off his nose as he stood up and walked off the exertion. It was fast aproaching the time to meet the group and he needed to shower. Jaune looked up and put away his blade and let it rest at his hip. He had heard a few people talk before he heard their polite knock on his wooden door that closed off the fenced back yard. He grabbed a towel as he answered, "I'm coming."

There was no urgency in the knock and he knew it would not be Andrew or Koben. They both would have sent him a message through the scroll. When he opened the gate he blinked at the couple that stood in front of them. It was an older couple he spoke to pretty frequently up until they made plans to move. They both looked apologetic and embarrassed. Jaune smiled. It was good to see them after so long. "Sandy, Fern, what can I do for you two this morning?" Jaune moved a way from the gate and invited them in.

The two walked in with a smile. They held a basket out to him. "This is from the lot of us Jaune. We wanted to let you know that we believe in you and appreciate everything you did for us."

Jaune breath hitched as he reached for the basket. "You didn't have to…"

Fern smiled as he handed the basket filled with an assortment of fruit, a deck of cards, even a couple of guitar strings. That made Jaune smile. He used to play for the bar once in a while. He had forgotten about it since he had been so busy lately. Everyone was happy to have someone play music, but everyone had a lot of uncharitable things to say about his singing. That didn't stop them from singing along until the late hours.

Jaune looked at the pair. "Thank you. This really does mean a lot to me."

"Has there been any word from the Mayor?"

Jaune still kept the smile but it looked very brittle to the couple. "None yet. We'll see what it looks like after everyone has left."

"It's been quieter since the Baughs and the Heaths left with the central group."

Jaune gave the pair a pained look. "Cole was always prickly when I shopped at his wife's store. I think it hurts most from the ones that lived here longer. You know? They knew my family, they knew me."

Sandy reached out and hugged the teen. "That escort brought up a lot of bad memories. If they hadn't been apart of it, I am sure no one would even have bat an eye."

"Will you stop at the pub tonight? Maybe bring the guitar? The party won't be the same with out you." Jaune looked hesitant, he had not planned on going. "Come on, one last time before we leave?"

Jaune laughed. He kept his smile as he looked over the guitar strings in the basket. "Maybe. Thank you both."

"Good luck today Jaune."

Jaune kept his smile even as his heart hurt. "Thank you."

Jaune closed the gate behind them and walked inside. He set down the basket and cleaned up as he enjoyed the warmth of the gesture.

-o-

Jaune stood in the shadows of the grain silos and waited for the group to gather just inside the gates of the granary. The Granary had the largest structures in Anvil and they cast their shade over half of the settlement in the mornings. The silos rose high into the sky and were made of a thick concrete and metal bands. Jaune leaned his head back against the cool building and looked at the sky. The birds flew in a circle around the settlement looking for loose food and grain they could scavenge from the trash. The only other things in the sky would usually be the cargo ships.

The Granary was the only place outside the port you could actually see aircraft. The silos needed short ranged ships to carry its cargo during the autumn season to the port. They were usually hollowed out aircraft to pick up specially fitted grain containers. This early in the spring, there was no such craft in the air.

Jaune checked the list of over two hundred and seventy names. It was the smallest group for the migration. Of the group that was leaving today, most were day laborers who took the option to look for jobs elsewhere. Jaune smiled at a few of the families but they did not seem to have the same tension the Central group had the day before.

"Good morning Linda." Jaune greeted. The group behind her jogged through the front gates. They all seemed fresh. "How were they?"

"So-so. They need conditioning. They were pretty slow."

Coco scowled when the two locals laughed. "I'm Coco, the team leader of CFVY, we also go by Coffee."

"Good morning Coco. I'm Jaune, your patrolman for this escort. We have two hundred and seventy-two people and twelve wagons to move. Expect the journey to last three and a half to four hours. We'll have breaks every hour for ten minutes for the horses and for the civilians to rotate off the wagons." Jaune opened his folder and handed them each a copy of the map with a highlighted path. "This is our intended route. I will be doing scouting reports for your team and draw grim away from the path if they prove to be too large of a pack."

Coco looked over the map and shared it with her team. "Thank you Jaune. We'll be ready in a few minutes to get everyone up and moving within the hour."

Jaune and Linda watched the group spread out to look over the civilians preparations. In his mind Jaune could see where some people were coming from. It was like he was outside looking in. "I saw them briefly yesterday…"

Linda sighed as she crossed her arms across her chest. "It's weird seeing people our age doing this huh?"

Jaune laughed. "It is." The patrolman looked and noticed the lone adult huntsman. "Good morning Barty."

"A very fine morning to you Jaune." The lanky man took a sip from his thermos. "It looks like the preparations will be completed soon."

Jaune smiled. "The Granary does not have many people who live in the lap of luxury. They have been ready to move for a few hours now. It will take longer for the parents to round up the children. We should be able to leave early."

"Very good. The escort yesterday was an easy affair for the team but for the student Fox. The red headed man has had problems with his stamina. Expect the team to ask for assistance to cover for him."

Jaune looked at the group. "Thank you for the information." The three watched as Team Coffee guided everyone to line up and check to make sure everything was prepared. Jaune noticed the easy conversations between the team members and the civilians. "They seem to be comfortable with the work, how long have these students been in Beacon?"

"Six months. This will be their third mission. Miss Adel as proven to be an exceptional leader of the team. She is a curious one though. She may try and pry in anything that catches her interest. Please do not be offended if she begins to ask personal questions. There are times where she can be too assertive."

Jaune's smile tightened. "I'll bear that in mind. Thank you for the warning."

"Jaune! They are ready!" Linda called from across the street. The wagons took up both lanes and the horses neigh drowned out some of the chatter. Jaune did not realize they would be finished so soon.

"Thanks!" Jaune bit his lip and smiled at her. She stuck her tongue at the response. She knew he was about to call her by her nickname in public. He waved at Coco already regretting he was giving her access to his scroll contact. "Coco, do you have a scroll active?"

"Yeah. Why?" She took hers out as he pulled out his.

"Here." He tapped a code and tapped her scroll to his. "This is my point of contact." The serial number rolled across her screen. "Call if you need assistance while I'm scouting."

Coco looked at him in surprise. "Thanks. The other guy didn't do that…"

"He probably didn't even think of it. Scrolls are new around here. Lead us when you are ready Team Coffee."

Coco waved at her team. One last glance was enough for her to click a few commands on her scroll before she turned and hollered "Let's move out!"

-o-

Jaune jumped over several low branches before he slid to a stop at the base of the hill. Above him, the pack of grim lost their footing and started to tumble after him. Jaune counted them and knew he missed two. The patrolman ran up a tree and over the grim who rolled in an uncontrollable roll down the unstable rocks of the hill. With several grunts of effort to clear the top again, he scanned the forest and found the two he had outrun. They were still a fair distance away from the civilians, but he wanted to make sure they would not bother the escort.

Jaune found where to drag the last two grim then whistled at the pair of beowolf grim. When that did nothing he threw a rock he picked up. The rock zipped between several trees before it found its target. The impotent throw barely got one of their attention. Thankfully both grim started to chase after him sensing an easy meal. Jaune led the two down a different path and into a darker part of the forest covered in brambles. Jaune dove under an upturned tree root before he used the down trunk as a launch pad to get himself above the brambles and into the trees. The grim struggled as they heedlessly ran into the roots and growled and tried harder to push through to get to him. A particularly aggressive one sniffed and snarled through the bramble before there was a screech as needles scrapped across the snout of the white mask. Jaune gave a satisfied huff.

 _That should do it._ Jaune started to go back but still kept an eye on the grim as he went in a slightly different direction before he veered off to where the escort would be. When he spotted the main road he allowed himself to think of the last leg of the journey. _Less than an hour away and there were no more opportunities to change course. But that also meant there would be less grim the closer they reached the port._ Jaune looked at his scroll and noticed the time. _The group took more time than I thought, but we left really early too. That's a relief._ In his mind, he had already decided to go to the bar tonight. Fern and Sandy were right. He wanted to say good-bye and have one good last memory of them.

The Houses had become his sanctuary for the last week. It felt good to be supported by people he did not even know after being brought to the court house in Central to discuss what occurred at the town hall. Jaune shook the lowered gaze. "Stay focused Arc." Jaune kicked up speed and found the group. The pace was pretty fast for an escort. They must have sensed that they were getting close to the port. The wagons helped with the effort considerably. A coachman waved at him as they noticed his blue jersey. Jaune waved back as he slowed in three steps and walked next to Coco not the least bit winded from the run.

"Everything is cleared for the rest of the way. Anything larger we will hear it before we see it."

Coco looked at the sun, the day would hit mid afternoon when they crossed into the port. "Thanks Jaune. And thanks for covering for Fox."

Jaune looked over his shoulder to Fox who instantly waved at him. Jaune returned the gesture. "Any time. Was anyone else having difficulties with the mission?"

Coco shook her head, "No. But I am sure we will need to rest more than we planned. Velvet wanted to tour around on our off time. But we were wiped last night. And I don't know about my teammates but my legs are sore. Not lot of effort to walk, but _man_ am I stiff."

"It must be hard, it's a lot of walking." Jaune kept his face neutral, but he had to turn slightly away from her to allow for the tug at his lip.

Coco exclaimed, "Exactly! How am I supposed to get a souvenir like this? I think we were going to have to skip training in the mornings anyway, so that may be my only chance. But we still have to travel to whatever the next settlement is to start that escort mission then go back to Central. How large is this place anyway?"

Jaune smiled as she stretched her arms out. "It's between twenty to thirty-four miles across depending on where to where. But most settlements are not even ten miles apart. The walk seems longer since you are not able to go at your pace and some places to The Port are closer to that twenty-mile mark. Thankfully this year we avoided that little issue by helping people move to the closer settlements, or they would have had to travel to central then to The Port the following day. We didn't want to do that to you." Jaune admitted. Jaune had already escorted two settlements to Central. It was why they were the first and the largest even if the two outlier settlements only added a small fraction to the large bulk that was the Central group.

"Well thank you. So what's there to do in on our off time? I want to _try_ and look around."

Jaune laughed thinking of what Linda considers fun. "You are asking the wrong person. I rarely have the time to go out. And it's kind of hard to keep friends my age when I actually have to police them. I also have to stay at The Houses that is usually full of only laborers and huntsmen. I am on call in that settlement. You won't catch me in Central unless I need to be there."

"Well shit. That sucks." Coco seemed to have pouted for a moment.

Jaune tilted his head and gave her a considering look. He lowered his hood to really look at her without his hood and hair getting in the way. The spring air made his blonde hair fly wildly from the wind before it settled. "I will say there _is_ a bar at the houses. You won't find any modern music though. It's a place for the old workers and the huntsmen. They serve all kinds of drink and food. And I had planned to go tonight to play my guitar, a last farewell at the Houses before tomorrows escort."

Coco snorted. "A night with a bunch of old people… sounds like a real night on the town."

Jaune laughed. It didn't sound like an out right dismissal. Jaune relaxed while thinking of the friends he made there and the age difference. It mirrored his earlier thoughts on how young he was compared to everyone else. "I had not planned to go myself but I was reminded this morning I know quite a few good people. I felt I should go say good bye to them tonight. Your team is more than welcome to come. Linda will probably be going anyway and she could guide you through the forest."

Coco hmm'ed to herself but knew she had decided to go. But there was Fox. And he was struggling this time. "I'll talk it over with my team. We still have one more escort with you tomorrow don't we?"

"Yeah. But it is starting at The Houses. Speak to Linda, maybe she can get you a room at the Huntsmen lodge there if it's too late."

Coco grinned already thinking about having some fun. "I'll talk it over with my team. So… what kind of songs do you sing?"

Jaune already began to think of his guitar. "Just a few bar songs. Jovial folks stuff. Maybe a few eh-" Jaune coughed as he said, "Bawdy ones too which I am sure a few people will request."

Coco just gave him a confused look. "Bawdy?"

Jaune realized she did not know what he meant. The heat started to rise up his neck. "You know… bawdy, songs about women… and their… parts…" Jaune looked at her hopefully. Maybe she got it?

Coco finally caught on to what he meant. She raised an eyebrow above her shades. "Like what?"

Jaune looked back at her. Coco just kept staring, fully expecting an example. Her hands rested on her hips, and she looked perfectly comfortable holding that position and walk straight ahead. After a moment he sighed as he looked up at the sky. "You're really going to make me sing one here." Jaune looked over his shoulder. Coco had taken point. Thankfully she was a good twenty feet from anyone in the convoy. He ignored her victorious smirk. Jaune cleared his throat and his voice pitched as he sang,

 _Now is your chance for all the joy!_

 _This is no dance she has no toy!_

 _Forget the wine her legs are fine,_

 _A farmers daughter is the best_

 _Draw a last breath in her breasts_

 _Feel that cold steel on your back?_

 _The farmer found you, best talk fast_

 _Say you will walk her down the pew._

 _Her father said he never knew!_

 _Listen son, wise words to learn,_

 _Don't fall for the first pair of milky thighs_

 _Or your free life will freeze you'll be paralyzed_

 _That's. How. I. Got. A. Wife._

Jaune felt his face reddened as he finished singing one of the more tame songs he knew. Coco took a moment to really just processes what he sang. Several wagons behind her, Coco could hear Velvet's laughter. Not for the first time, Coco wondered how good her teammate's hearing actually was.

"That's a bawdy song."Jaune added needlessly. He rubbed the heat on his neck and finally built up the courage to look at her.

Coco blinked a few moments before she laughed loudly, covering her mouth as she did so. "And here I thought it would be a romance song."

"I had no clue what I asked for when they started teaching me those. You can imagine the conversations I had when I started asking questions." Jaune grimaced and he stuck his tongue out while he made a gagging sound.

Coco took her time to let her laughter echo across the woods. So much so, that Jaune rolled his eyes at his walking partner. She waved at a few of the civilians behind them that were leading the caravan when they called after them if they were ok. "Jaune, Linda said you became a patrolman years ago, when _did_ you learn those songs?"

"Just after I was stationed as the permanent patrolman for The Houses. Maybe two years ago?"

Coco grinned as all sorts of questions popped in her head. "Did you get the talk before or after you learned one of those songs."

"Hey, I wasn't that young when I started singing at the pub!" Jaune scowled. Coco was having too much fun and just gave him that same unflinching look. She seemed satisfied to wait until he admitted to _something_. "Fine, I didn't know some of the more colorful things. I still regret asking what they were talking about in a song where a guy was eager for his sweet and tart pie."

"By all that is mighty." Coco snickered.

"I'm not singing that one tonight." He gave her a look as if he was would be nauseous if they didn't stop.

"Maybe next time then." She answered before she hummed to herself. She felt her team staring at her back as if to will her to not give the poor young man an impromptu inquisition. Not turning back she grinned to the sky. "What's it like being a patrolman?"

"It's a lot of running." He answered.

The sudden loss of humor startled her. Coco blinked behind her shades before she looked at him and realized his eyes never stopped moving. They were constantly moving back and forth ahead and to their flanks. "You don't have to keep looking. We can sense the grim well before they come up on us. Velvet and Fox will let us know about one well before you could flag a warning by sight."

Jaune 's eyes relaxed slightly. They never did stop moving but Coco could see that the glances around them were more relaxed. More of a survey of the land rather than searching for threats. "Thanks Coco. I don't really work with Huntsmen. I forget that you likely have more efficient ways to sense them."

"It's fine. It's a huntsmen trade skill. I learned it from my father pretty early when I was little."

Jaune had a hard time thinking of Coco as a child. Then he abruptly laughed. He laughed good and hard.

"What's got your funny bone tickled?"

Jaune's mirth kept him silent for a moment. "I just figured you must have been a terror with your why questions as a kid."

Coco slumped for a moment and crossed her arms. The reaction made Jaune laugh again. That observation was a little too close to home for Coco. Her eyes, hidden by her dark shades, never left the forest ahead of them. But her voice and posture said he had her undivided attention as she had free reign to ask anything that came to her mind. And her team could do nothing to stop her.

"What do people do in some of the bawdy songs?"

"I am so not answering that."

Coco smiled and took off her shades and tilted her head. She batted her eye lashes, "What if I say pretty-please?"

Jaune smiled at the failed attempt to be cute. Coco had nothing on Linda's cutesie act. "You don't do that very often do you?"

Sometime later Coco saw the entrance to the port and sighed in disappointment. She never did get a few of the questions out of Jaune about what was going on with the last group. She even gave up a little about herself to get him to share. But then again, he was still looking for grim.

Coco picked up quickly that the guy seemed to always be on alert during the whole run. It took a while for him to even relax enough to start asking questions she wanted answers to. But it ended too quickly. She looked to her team as they gathered up.

Velvet informed her before Coco even said a word. "We're on board for the visit to the bar Coco. I asked Fox and Yatsuhashi while you were busy having fun up front."

"I was not having fun up front. I was getting information."

Fox pinched the bridge of his nose. "She still has her shades off doesn't she?"

Coco realized she did and put them back on with an accused look at Velvet, daring her to say something.

-o-

"Linda! We need rooms at the Houses! Jaune promised to sing me a song!"

Velvet flushed and started laughing in the same breath. The faunus knew the kind of song Coco was hoping for. Velvet did feel slightly guilty to listen in to their conversation, but she was more curious why Jaune kept looking over his shoulder at the group in the final stage of the mission.

The rest of the afternoon escort was spent listening to Coco make Jaune as uncomfortable as possible about details of some of the songs. Velvet felt she should have somehow been offended with the lyrics but when Jaune felt so embarrassed at reciting some of them she just enjoyed seeing him squirm as much as Coco apparently did. The constant questions Coco asked drove the poor guy to puce levels of embarrassment.

Speaking of embarrassments… Velvet was broken out of her thoughts as Coco's partner stood up. Fox grabbed Coco by the scarf and pulled her, 'Hey watch the scarf!' back onto her seat.

Fox pointedly faced downward and away from where he knew the older woman walked into the lounge. "I have the most embarrassing leader in all of Vale."

"Did he say he was going to sing?" Linda grinned excitedly.

"Yeah tonight at The Houses."

Linda looked at the group. "Did you all want to go? It's a good run. And we'll probably be staying there the night." The woman looked to their instructor but he merely raised his hand at them.

"We can make it in a forty minute run if we go now before it gets too dark." The group immediately stood up.

-o-

Jaune muttered under his breath and took a sip of water. His fingers ran of the strings. The patrolman had taken a seat near the booths of the bar to sing. It allowed him to see the entire bar including the doors. He had taken off his hoodie and patrolmen jersey and wore a simple black shirt and blue jeans. The door opened and closed several times while he played a wordless tune. He looked at the crowd and suddenly changed the tune to a more upbeat one. He missed his chance to start and let the song roll around again before he stood up and with renewed energy sang,

 _The huntsmen looked to the clouded sky, and knew it was here_

 _The cowards turned to run from the greatest puppeteer_

 _Outgunned the huntsmen groaned with no way out_

 _That's cause the wives found them drunk and passed out._

The claps to the rhythm of the songs started immediately along with stomps of feet. At the chorus, the rounds of laughter joined Jaune as a few men sang with him,

 _Run! Men! Run!_

 _Run! Men! Run!_

 _You never want to see her when you are full of piss,_

 _Forgiveness won't happen! Just give her a kiss!_

Jaune strummed through several chords as the laughter died. He ignored the laughs as he cleared his throat and grimaced as his voice pitched as he reached for a high note. When he caught their eye, he winked at Fern and Sandy when he walked by.

 _Remind her you are loyal_

 _You just want to have some fun_

 _You are still the man she knew and love_

 _If you can't face her, your friend will give you a shove._

Jaune switched from playing the guitar strings to beat the guitar with his hand as he sang. He had always tried to keep the songs to his octave range but his voice pitched and he stopped to cough much to the jeers of the crowd. Jaune struggled to keep his singing voice as he laughed,

 _Your men will stand by you._

 _Never waiver, never coup_

 _Even when you leave,_

 _They will not grieve_

 _They will just send a prayer that you will come back to them_

 _They won't save you any booze just because you are their friend._

 _They just know your wife!_

The crowd finished the last line together,

 _Run man run! Run man run! We won't save you any booze, my friend_

 _Because we all know your wife!_

The song ended with a round of applause.

"Alright. I am done for now, my voice needs a rest." A few cheers answered him.

"You still haven't sung me a song yet!" Someone shouted over the crowd. Jaune looked up to see Coco with her team at a table. Fox looked like he wanted to hide behind Yatsuhashi but settled for covering his hand with his face. Velvet simply grinned with a click of her camera while she ignored the embarrassment that was her leader.

Just as loud, Jaune answered her with, "I will romance you with T _he Wench and the Stable Boy_ later!" The crowd howled and cheered. Jaune set down the guitar and went to the bar for some water. Everyone seemed to go back to their own conversations and the place built to a slow din.

Jaune relaxed and just absorbed the atmosphere before he turned to greet the Doctor who had just walked to the bar.

"That was quite the performance. Is this a usual night for you?"

Jaune shook his head. "Tonight is special." Jaune looked at the crowd and smiled. He spotted quite a few faces that will be gone after tomorrow. He gave himself a somber smile thinking about his own future. "This is a farewell party."

Barty turned to catch both Andrew and Koben lean against the wall quietly talking amongst themselves. He caught Koben's glance. The patrolman raised his glass at the doctor.

Bartholomew Oobleck finally had the last piece click into place. He had wondered why Koben had been so desperate for his aide. The other huntsmen in the lounge said they were worried about their contracts as well. So what was it that the patrolmen seemed to be keeping quiet from everyone? This had to be it. For the patrolmen, this was _Jaune's_ farewell party. Barty leaned against the bar while he let the fact sink in. "You think you will be relieved as a patrolman."

Jaune did not look surprised that Barty figured it out. "Don't tell anyone yet. But yeah. Well, I better be. Anvil could barely support three patrolmen before. Pearl, that's the mayor, donated the house I live in here at the Houses. That has allowed the patrolmen to be sustainable for so long. She has been fighting for help from the capital, but they had been ignoring Anvil for years now. It was enough for Vale that there was money invested in the extended towers for the scrolls."

Jaune looked at the crowd. A sense of nostalgia filled him as he looked at the bar. When he leaves, he would have to give up his home, find something new, move back in with his parents. "I will miss this, but there were a few other things that happened recently that solidified the decision for us. Pearl knows that I am not important enough to keep around if it comes to a fight. If she tried to fight for me, it will bother a lot of people. Especially after everything that has happened the last few weeks."

"So that's what it was. Coffee has noticed something has been off with the people of this mission. I did not think it ran so deep." Jaune nodded as he finished his soft drink. He smiled at a few people who walked by before he looked back to Barty. "You seem confident she will draw the same conclusion you did."

Jaune leaned against the bar and watched the crowd, "She will do what's right for Anvil. I am a contract myself. I can't just quit. I have to be released. I've made small inquiries about other jobs, but with so many people moving out at once my options are nearly non-existent. I will need to move to a new settlement if I want to find something."

Barty set his drink down. "Koben and Andrew mentioned they would like you to attend Beacon."

Jaune grinned into his cup of water. "And I've told them I am honored, but that I wasn't interested." Jaune gave the man a side glance before he thought he should clarify. "Barty, It's more than just attending Beacon. I've seen what happens to my family when one of us unlocks their aura. It is hard for us to control it in the last few generations. I don't want to think what that would look like with my training." Jaune closed his eyes and they furrowed. "I don't trust I could properly control my aura around others." Jaune looked at his hand.

Barty could feel the shift in Jaune's latent aura.

"Are you are suppressing your aura?"

Jaune shook his head. "I wish I had that level of control or I wouldn't be so worried. I have just felt that my aura has been ready to unlock for a long time now." Jaune gripped his hand. "It only needs a little push. I've been very careful."

Jaune gave Barty a look under his long bangs. His eyes seemed more exhausted now than he did moments before. Jaune was haunted by the thought of his own aura. "Please don't tell anyone. I'll worry about it if I do unlock it. But right now?" Jaune let himself trail off.

"I won't say anything further then." Barty looked over Jaune's shoulder and shook his head. "Judging from how her team is losing the struggle to keep her in her seat, I think Coco is getting impatient. "

The two turned to look at Fox shake his slapped hand as Coco tried to push him out of the booth to get up. Yatsuhashi simply rested a massive hand on her small shoulder. Coco glared at him unable to move.

Jaune let the amusement filter into his voice, "Excuse me Barty."

"Have fun. Would you have some time later tonight to talk? I would like to speak of a few other things before we leave tomorrow after the escort."

Jaune smiled, "Of course."

Barty smiled as he watched the teen walked off. So much to think about.

Jaune picked up his guitar and the tavern quieted. The young man smiled at Coco's self-satisfied smirk as he approached Team Coffee. He knelt next to the table and leaned close to their leader. His grin turned vengeful, "Coco, will you be my wench if I teach you the chorus?" The cheers instantly put her on the spot. The noise drowned out the sudden click from Velvet's camera. Yatsuhashi seemed to adopt Fox's slouch as they both seemed to want to slide under the table at their booth. Coco nodded, completely at ease with the request. Jaune looked at the team, at least someone was going to be uncomfortable. Now if he could only make her blush.

"Ok Coco, there are a few rules to this song."

The crowd listened. This was a song Jaune learned from the couple he spoke to that morning. He glanced and saw Sandy laugh and whisper to her husband. "There are two verses you will sing. You will sing the first one until you give in and sing the last one to end the song."

Coco smiled. "That doesn't sound too hard."

Jaune laughed as Velvet twitched her ears. No doubt she could hear some other bits of conversation given the blush that spread across her cheeks.

"I lose if I don't get you to sing the second chorus before my part of the song ends. I win if I make you laugh or if you give in and sing it on your own." Velvet caught his glance. He winked at her which made the faunus girl blush more. Jaune was happy to see he had Coco's undivided attention. After two practice rounds, Jaune started the song.

Barty watched Coco as she made a valiant attempt to keep a straight face. Satisfied that Coco was not immediately going to break, Barty stepped outside. He let the pair make a spectacle of themselves not the least bit worried about the results of the song.

Coco's team had no such luxury. It took Velvet barely the second line of Jaune's singing to realize Coco relaxed into the role. She elbowed Yatsuhashi and he exhaled as he noticed on Coco's second round of her verse when she leaned closer to Jaune. Halfway through the third verse, Fox quietly groaned "Oh no, she's having fun."

Coco had her shades off and tossed her hair over her shoulder as she sang,

 _You're cute and hard to resist,_

 _But truly your barely apart of this,_

 _Not in the mood to have time to spare for you_

Velvet laughed and clapped with the crowd and it was after the third verse that she realize that everyone stopped singing along. The song was the longest they had heard tonight. Jaune strung the tune again and sang another verse as he leaned in and in a soft voice sang,

 _Auburn hair and gorgeous eyes,_

 _My hearts gone, please realize,_

 _Held in your hand,_

 _don't squeeze too hard!_

 _I need that for our dance,_

 _if you would please this stable boy._

Jaune gave her an earnest smile before he made a ridiculous face with his tongue sticking out of his mouth. Coco broke into a laugh and patted his shoulder "Cheater!" finally she sang the last line she was taught of the song.

 _This wench is so weak_

 _I am too meek_

 _Show me my love_

 _this dance, my stable boy._

The crowd cheered with the last line. Jaune quietly set down his guitar and relaxed. "So?"

Coco waved her hand in a so-so manner. "You so cheated." She laughed for a moment but adjusted her cap and pouted. "I was hoping for something more risque."

Jaune laughed as he looked over to Barty only to realize he was absent, "Pretty sure your babysitter would be concerned if I tried to serenade you with one of those."

Coco smiled but cleared her throat to swallow anything she might have said. Instead, "Thanks for the song Jaune. It was fun."

Jaune grinned and patted the back of her chair. "I'll see you guys around later tonight, I want to go say hi to a few people that invited me out." He bid the team a farewell before he walked away to a couple at a table a few spaces down.

-o-

It was late evening when Barty had his chance to speak with Jaune again. The crowd had dwindled to a few groups outside the bar. Jaune stood alone now that Coco and her team had to call it the night. Bart gave Team Coffee an early reminder that they had another long day ahead of them. It was enough to get them to retire. "Excuse me, Jaune? May I have some time to speak with you before you are off for the night?"

Jaune had his hood up and had worn his blue vest to signal he was on duty for the final hours. His guitar was strapped to his side and he strummed a few notes together as he gave everyone who passed him a good night. "Hello Barty. Sure. We are done here. My office is just down the road."

"Thank you."

The two chatted quietly as Jaune made them both a relaxing tea. The two shared stories until there was a dull in the conversation.

"Andrew spoke with you?" Jaune finally asked. He had expected Barty to bring it up sooner, but the doctor seemed content to keep it to small talk.

"Koben did. And he was vague as to the reasons why. He only asked me to speak with you. They both seemed worried. Have you decided what you will do when you are relieved from duty?"

Jaune repressed the urge to shrug. It was something his sisters would do. Something young adults would do. Not officers. "I am not sure. I looked into other settlements but most either had one already or do not need one. Anvil was being a little excessive with the enforcement by having me on board. I only realized recently how much effort Pearl had put in to keep me here for this long."

Barty's quiet voice asked, "How did you find out?"

"There was an incident a few weeks ago. While on patrol, I found an escort mission that had been attacked by grim. I had sent out a message for assistance when I noticed a few civilians were cut off from the group. I baited the grim to follow me to give the pair of civilians room to run back to their group. The huntsman cleared them up and thanked me later that night. Almost ten days later I am called into Pearls' office along with Andrew and Koben. The people I rescued thought I had abandoned them and were calling for my job." Jaune looked at his tea and set it down. There was a bit of bile that began to taint the tea while he retold the experience. He exhaled the anger through his nose.

"She must have worked hard to have you still be here with us." Barty stated while processing everything.

"I learned days after the meeting that most of the people that called for my job were from Central." Jaune paused. He could feel himself loose control and closed his eyes. His brow twitched in frustration before he felt he got it under control. "Have you heard of the boarbatusk grim that invaded Central a few years ago?"

Barty set his tea down. "Only briefly from Linda."

Jaune allowed a small bubble of amusement to come through his chest. "She would bring that up. I was with the volunteers on the walls when we realized that the two grim had made it to the bunker. The guards' ammo was not making a difference so I jumped down from the wall to pull the two grim away the central bunker. Everyone on that wall knew that I probably was going to die. I was just a trainee. I barely completed my first full run that same day." Jaune laughed at himself. He lost the smile as he recalled the hearing.

"If- if the people who were asking for my job were anyone else in Central, I probably would not have felt anything about it. I could chalk it up as a misunderstanding. But there were a few people who were the most vocal of removing me that stood right next to me as I jumped off that wall. When they heard the story from the guys I saved, they were first in line to have me step down."

"That seems like a very drastic change of opinion," Barty observed.

Jaune shook his head. "Unless it wasn't a sudden change of opinion. I had seen it before in a few people when I was on duty but never made the connection. I would catch some of the disdain in their reactions. An occasional reluctance to follow my instructions was not rare. I always thought of it as just people being annoyed that an authority was telling them what to do." Jaune finished the tea in one drought and sighed while his head leaned back in his chair. He looked at his cup and played with the handle.

"I think Andrew always knew. I really am thankful that he sent me to The Houses. He did a great job of protecting me. For a while…" Jaune lowered his hood and looked at the man dead in the eye. "When it was time to volunteer to move they made it clear I was the reason. It was like they all slapped me in the face. They knew the risks when they came here. Most have had lived here for decades. But that all changed at the breach. Because I was a kid, or because I failed to stop the grim before the walls broke. I don't know. But all they saw was a boy getting rescued by huntsmen and that night they had to abandon the settlement because they-" Jaune paused and exhaled as the anger left him. His voice was quiet as he finished, "-I couldn't protect them."

Jaune voice cracked for the first time in what seemed like months. "I nearly died for them. And I can't even tell if they just don't trust me, or if they are just scared. I trusted and fought alongside the volunteers for years on the city borders. I am still so _angry."_ A hot sting began to form in his eyes. He looked up at Barty, and that same haunted look from the bar returned. "Am I allowed to say it's not fair? To just say, fuck off? What about the next time? It was their favorite question when they had the hearing. I kept my job. Pearl and Andrew did an amazing job protecting me. But I knew it would be time to go when I saw the number of people leaving."

Jaune had been staring at his cup and heard the voice ask, "How did you know?"

Jaune thought about the headcount and how many of them were from the permanent residents rather than the migrant workers. "We are very sensitive to the population in Anvil. Both patrolmen and huntsmen are aware how many of us are needed for Anvil to function. When we saw the final total I knew my time was up. It was just the sheer number of bodies in Anvil." Jaune swallowed the lump of anger in his throat. He gave himself a helpless angry laugh at the life he worked so hard to achieve fall apart around him. "I wanted nothing more than to have just gone up to the group at Central as they left and shouted congratulations you did it! You got what you wanted. I can't be a patrolman anymore." Jaune went hoarse and he stopped. Angry tears blurred his eyes.

"You love this job."

Jaune rubbed his eyes with his finger. "I do. If it was just a job, oh well. I thought a huntsman was a job at being a hero. But this?" Jaune leaned back and his head banged against the wall as his chair was pressed against. "This felt like it was a calling. Like I belonged. I would be happy if I could do this for the rest of my life." Jaune swallowed the lump in his throat.

Barty let the silence pass before he sighed at the teen. "So it comes back to the same question, what will you do now?"

Jaune laughed. A self-deprecating tone filled his voice. "I am young. I can find something."

"Andrew said you were talented. He did give me your file… You would qualify for most jobs in Vale."

Jaune exhaled a calm breath. He cleared his throat. "Thanks Barty. That's actually reassuring. After everything calms down, I may go look at see what I can find in Vale. Thank you for allowing me to vent. I haven't really had the luxury to talk like that with anyone."

Barty gave a reassuring look to the teen. "You are welcome. Thank you for the tea Jaune. Don't give up on being a patrolman just yet. I am sure you can find something. It may just take some time."

Jaune stood and walked the older man out of the building. "Thanks. I'll see you in the morning."

The door closed behind the doctor and Jaune locked it behind him before he went home. His hood was up over his head and puffs of warm air blew from his nose as he walked back home. He at least felt better talking about it. He knew he couldn't vent it to Linda. She would start a crusade; bless her heart. And Andrew and Koben had their own problems from the whole debacle. Jaune ran his hands over the strings of his guitar when he got home. It was a good day when all things were considered. He got to spend some time with some old friends he would likely never see again, and made some new ones that would be just as fleeting as his old ones.

 _I made some good memories. I can't argue with that._

-o-

The morning training brought multiple steps to Jaune's back door.

"Linda?" Jaune addressed his friend when he opened the gate.

"Yes Jaune?" She said with a smile as the whole group walked into his backyard.

"You have a few tag-a-longs behind you." He leaned to his left to make a show of looking around her. He was rewarded with Coco's confident smirk. "Morning Coco."

"Morning stable boy." She playfully winked at him as she toyed with the tuff of her dyed hair.

Jaune grinned. "Charming as you are lovely wench."

Coco smiled and adjusted her beret and preened. "Oh, please go on."

Velvet interrupted the two. "We were invited to watch this morning. Doctor Oobleck said it would be a good idea to see a patrolman train."

Jaune nodded. "Very well. We'll start with hand to hand Linda."

Linda removed her sword at the same time Jaune pulled on his gloves. The exchange lasted longer than she expected. Jaune seemed content for the two to spar without ending the fight quickly like he usually would. She grimaced when he finally grabbed her belt and rolled. She attempted to catch her self, but he adjusted the flip. Linda landed flat on her back. The huntswoman found that the following groans from the observers only accentuated the pain.

Jaune's shoes made a clink sound as a vicious kick mercilessly hit her shoulder. Linda tried to recover but the metal heel brought her back down to her knees. Jaune stopped before he made a follow-up. "Good job Linda. But you are still too predictable. You have been sparing with me for years. You know the angles I will come at. Anticipate them. Be creative. You've done it before."

Linda just leaned over her knee and concentrated on breathing. Eventually she nodded that she got it. Jaune smiled and patted his friend's shoulder. "Linda is going to need a break before we keep going. Any plans for the last day in Anvil?"

Coco sighed out a disappointed, "I didn't get a chance to shop like I wanted. So I think we are leaving empty-handed."

Jaune tilted his head and looked to Velvet. Wasn't the girl taking pictures the entire time? "That's too bad. At least you can make a scrapbook for the trip."

Velvet perked up at that. "I kinda like that idea."

Jaune heard Linda sigh. She seemed content to stay on the ground which caused him to smile. "I would offer to spar with you, but I am not sure that is a good idea before your last mission."

Fox murmured to himself, "At least Jaune has some sense." Coco elbowed his ribs.

"That's too bad." Velvet lamented.

Jaune looked surprised at their disappointment. "I wouldn't think you would be that interested in an aura-less fighter."

", in particular, will be interested in your fighting style. Her semblance allows her to mimic the fighting styles of others. She is always looking for a new fighting style to acquire."

"I would have asked if that was ok. I don't want to steal anything." Her ears drooped and she glared at Yatsu for omitting the information.

Jaune nodded. "Every bit helps you survive longer. I understand. I will probably be visiting Vale later this month. If you are still interested, maybe I could look your team up?" Jaune made a motion to pat his pocket where his scroll was.

"She would love to," Coco answered for her teammate.

"Please don't bring the guitar."

"Shut up Fox," Coco emphasized with a slap on the shoulder.

"You're awfully comfortable with Coco, Jaune." Linda observed from the ground.

Jaune smirked at Coco. "Kinda of hard not to be after she made me recite every raunchy song I knew. After that what's there to be shy about? That must be its own circle of hell."

Jaune laughed before he nudged Linda's shoulder with his foot. "You ready for another round?"

The girl grumbled a few more times as Jaune paused once or twice to show Velvet exactly why he moved in certain ways. It would not be enough for her to emulate but it was more than enough for her to understand why he moved the way he did. Velvet simply nodded and took pictures happy to see how he moved in fights.

Linda walked off the bruise she knew was developing against her lower thigh. "Sorry Jaune I think I'm almost out."

Jaune looked at her and agreed. "Yeah. You are starting to limp. Go walk it off Tripod. They already know where to go for the final escort."

Linda grimaced before she walked out the gate to look for a shower. Coco laughed. "Tripod?"

Jaune laughed when Linda turned back to give him an annoyed look before she gave team Coffee a smile. "Jaune likes to give nicknames to people he likes."

Jaune rolled his eyes. "Whatever tripod."

Coco smiled. "What's mine?"

Immediately and without thinking, Jaune answered, "Wench." Jaune blinked. "Thank you Linda. I'll be sure to show you how grateful I am tomorrow in practice." He had turned to look at her but the woman was already long gone. Jaune shook his head and noticed the time. He quickly started to shoo the huntsmen out of his backyard. It was getting on in the morning. The group would need to get ready soon.

"Jaune?"

Jaune saw Coco just outside the gate. She had relaxed against it while he closed up. Her team had long since left the two of them behind. "Yes Coco?"

"Thank you for helping Velvet."

Jaune elbowed her gently. "You're welcome. You were really worried about her?"

Coco nodded. "She had her last weapon destroyed by some other classmen who were pretty racist towards faunus. It really shook her confidence to fight with no weapon during combat class and doing these missions without one. But she is too polite to ask for help. So I also wanted to apologize for being…"

Jaune smiled. "Assertive."

Coco elbowed him back. "Sure. That sounds so much nicer than what I was going to say."

-o-

Fox was embarrassed when he signaled to Coco he needed to rest. He never thought he would have to have kept his semblance up for this long. He was a big man and could admit it was a bigger hit to his pride than he anticipated.

Coco just patted his back and told him to get in a wagon. As soon as Fox started to get into a wagon, the blonde patrolman took his spot on the escort. Jaune simply gave Coco a playful wink and walked along the left side of the convoy without complaint.

"Excuse me Ma'am."

The woman moved over and Fox got up on the wagon and sat down with a sigh. Fox leaned back and closed his eyes. He did not think that he would be this much of a hindrance on this mission. The constant constant use of his semblance to observe the area had burned through stamina he did not realize he needed for such a long mission. He kept his eyes closed for a while and opened them to realize he had actually fallen asleep. Fox shook his head and slapped his face. It must have been a fair distance since he could feel Velvet and Yatsuhashi had swapped positions. Fox faced the woman to excuse himself, "I am sorry ma'am I did not mean to fall asleep. I'll get up and resume my-"

The woman rested her hand on his and calmly said, "It is fine huntsman. You need to take rest when you are able to. First mission?" She went back to her knitting needles with calm hands and resumed her work.

"Third actually, but I use my special ability to see." The woman looked up at him and Fox moved the hair that covered his eyes to reveal two faded pupils.

"Ah, you're blind?"

Fox nodded. He tilted his head so his ear was facing her direction. "I am. On missions like this, I use an ability to see but with these escort missions and so many going back to back… Clearly, I was not prepared. Coco told me to sit and rest for a bit. And I guess I just fell asleep."

"It's fine. You will find most of us in this group will be accepting of anything your team does. We always had a living group of huntsmen at The Houses. We are familiar with the differences." The woman shook her head. "I just wish more people did.'"

And suddenly Fox was given the opening Coco was looking for. Fox never saw Coco roll her eyes, but he did a very Coco like eye roll to himself under his bangs. "We were told there was an incident at a town hall that started some enmity between the civilians and their protectors. But the other huntsmen were not aware of what started it."

The old woman hummed to herself before she explained. "That's because it started before then. And I could see how the huntsmen did not make the connection. It was a routine escort mission." The woman set down the knitting needles and looked at him. "We were told there was an escort mission a few weeks ago. It was only supposed to be a two-hour long walk from The Houses to Central. The huntsmen that were hired had to change the route midway. They had discovered a group of grim nearby. To make sure they were safe, the huntsmen had rounded the wagons for the groups' protection. The huntsmen set up their defenses and began to eliminate the grim. When you live here as long as we have, you understand the dangers of this life. Some are more comfortable with it than others. It was one of the later that panicked."

Fox nearly flinched at her flat unimpressed tone. "That did not sound good."

The woman lips thinned. "When I heard it, I wanted to shake Cole and ask what he was thinking. It was a reaction we expect from new hire workers in their first month, not people like us who had lived here for years. Three of the party ran from the huntsmen's protection." The woman stretched her legs and sighed at the work in her hands. "Jaune had come to check on the group since they were running behind. He had discovered the fleeing men and intercepted the grim. Take it as a lesson to never overestimate what you think is common knowledge young man. The fleeing idiots were completely ignorant and fully expected Jaune to fight the grim."

"Without aura?"

"I don't think they even knew what it was. They thought he was being a coward when he ran. He drew them away and herded the group of grim to help the escorts clear them faster. Jaune then left to report the incident. The remaining journey to Central seemed to fester the groups' complaints. The town hall happened the next week and what should have been a quick list of volunteers to leave Anvil became a demand for Jaune to stand trial."

Fox swore under his breath. "That seems a bit extreme."

"They thought he should have protected them the way he protected them at the breach. It became clear that many at that meeting did not know the difference between a huntsman and a patrolman. And they clearly did not know what Jaune did at the breach."

"When the Mayor stood by the Huntsmen and Patrolmen, rumors took hold inside Central. That the patrolmen were there just for show because it was cheaper than huntsmen. That Jaune was a con artist, how else would he be doing a job when he was that young? There were more but the worst were about Jaune. The worst part was that some people from each settlement began to believe it. The Houses were guilt free of the whole affair thank all that is good. The Houses has as many huntsmen as laborers. And Jaune has been stationed there for years. I suppose it also helps that we have the most interaction with both huntsmen and patrolmen. Unfortunately, some people still believed those rumors. Most of them have left no longer feeling safe in Anvil. There is little anyone can do to change the opinions of those who are already gone."

"The first group we escorted were really anxious." Fox recalled the tension that wound so many of the civilians.

"Seeing so many huntsmen so young probably did not put them at ease either. Most huntsmen here are in their thirties or more. But most of the problems were in Central. There were a few families at that meeting that were convinced Anvil was not safe. It was not a stupid fear. We did have a serious invasion. But any man or woman who volunteered on the wall during that invasion saw Jaune then. A _boy_. Who faced grim to keep them distracted with no weapons. Only a fool would forget and accuse him of being a coward and derelict in his duty. It is shame." She looked at the teen ahead of them. His hood up and he looked uncomfortable with the group. He said something to Yatsu and disappeared in a blur.

The woman sighed. "I hope he is able to move past this. Only a few people had any problems with Jaune before the incident and it was only because of how young he was. Those people are gone now." The woman pulled out a ball of yarn from her satchel and started to thread it in the needle. It was more to calm her than anything else. "They couldn't wait to sign up to leave."

Fox faced the woman. "Thank you for sharing. A lot of people were uneasy in Central. We weren't sure if that was the same everywhere… We were concerned for a number of reasons."

"I understand. I have a son my self who is a Beacon student. He graduates this year. He tells me all sorts of stories when he calls."

"Thank you for the spot to rest."

Fox got down and walked alongside the wagon for a moment until she said, "Any time Huntsman."

-o-

Team CFVY cheered as they walked past the gates of the port. The final group was escorted safely. Thankfully it was a jovial group. Most recognized Coco as the singer from the bar. Most of the men seemed to cheer or whistle as her whenever Jaune was nearby. She smiled politely at the group but knew she had to ask Velvet what that was about. Velvet had have been listening to what they said and could explain the cheers. But that could be saved for the flight back. Coco looked around and waved her team together. "We'll be flying out in twenty minutes. Good job guys. Sit back and relax. That includes you too Fox."

Fox murmured something but nodded. Coco frowned at him but moved along.

Jaune seemed to have said his goodbyes to a few people who boarded the last ship. His return marked the arrival of the other two patrolmen. It was the oldest of the three that greeted them. "Anvil thanks you for your help Team Coffee."

Jaune turned to the Doctor. "Thank you for the words last night. It was a pleasure to meet you all. Even the inquisitive ones." Jaune looked over to Coco's unrepentant gaze.

"Stable boy, you better think we had a great time."

"Sh, not now wench, I'm working."

Velvet seemed to join the round of groans from her male teammates. That caused Jaune and Coco to share a smile.

Jaune waited until they had started to walk to the ships' ramp before he whispered, "Velvet, wait." Andrew and Koben glanced at their fellow patrolman both curious why he was talking to himself. Velvet's ears twitched and she turned her head. Jaune gave her a knowing smile. In the same whispered tone, "When she asks about the song, tell her not to read too much into it. It was the first thing that popped into my head. Oh, and take a picture for me." He added as an afterthought.

Velvet blushed as she thought of the meaning of the song to the locals. It was a true real-life courtship song of the area. As in _please be my future wife_ song. To hear him say it was not meant that way made her nod slightly with a sigh of relief.

Just as the door closed he started to whisper something else. But it seemed to be more to himself. Velvet turned around and looked to Jaune as the doors began to close. The ships engines kicked to life and the wind made the noise almost painful to reach out and hear him. The thrum of channeled air made her ears droop to protect themselves. She saw him move his lips and could not hear exactly what he said, but the last word was definitely _waiting._

Velvet stood there as the doors closed. She only realized she tried to tease out the meaning a little too long when Coco noticed her stand still.

"You ok there Velvet? You didn't tire yourself out from the last escort did you?"

Velvet nearly eeped aloud. Her ears stood at attention and they thumped against the aircraft's low ceiling. "Nothing! I am good. Just something that Jaune said."

Coco smiled as she sat down and strapped in. "What did my stable boy have to say?"

Velvet gave an exasperated look to her leader. She suddenly perked as she realized what Jaune was asking for her to do. "Jaune said that you shouldn't take his wedding proposal too seriously." Coco jerked her head up, mouth wide open. There was a flash and a click from Velvet's camera.

Velvet laughed as she lamented, "Ah, The only downside to that picture is going to be the shades."

Fox wisely kept his laugh to himself. He was sitting next to Coco.

Coco for the first time covered her mouth with her hand and sank into her seat. She would not let give Velvet the satisfaction of seeing the heat that ran over her face. "The whole song was a…?"

Velvet nodded and smiled at her friend. "Usually the first two verses are the same but every verse after that was about the intended." Velvet took another picture finding it oddly satisfying to see the myriad of colors her leader could produce.

"Wait! He cheated!"

Fox snickered from his reclined chair. He let his head lazily turn to her, "Pretty sure that was why he said to not take it seriously Coco."

Coco just thought about the song and realized she still played along with him the entire day. Extremely flattered, she allowed herself a small laugh now that she understood the caravan's behavior.

Across from the team, Barty looked out the window to Anvil as it faded over the horizon. The plateau was barely distinguishable from the rest of the landscape this far out. But even at this speed, it would still take hours to get back to Beacon. The doctor thought of Jaune and knew that the boy would be a valuable asset to Beacon. If Jaune was not interested in becoming a student there could be other avenues that were open to him.

The doctor heard Coco scream a voiceless growl into her hands. He smiled at the team fondly. Team Coffee was a good group. They were fortunate they did not learn what had happened to Jaune before their arrival. It was better to not let that taint the experience. Barty was pleased to see they had made a friend out of the patrolman. It may have been due to how close in age they were, but it was heartening to see huntsmen and patrolmen get along so well. Most settlements had no such luck or opportunities. It's rare for the two groups to communicate with each other unless it was during a disaster.

 _Anvil was unique in that regard._ Barty thought to himself. _The boy himself, by the nature of learning to become a patrolman, forced the two groups to work together. I only wish other settlements could learn that lesson._ The doctor closed his eyes and forced himself to sleep.

"No Velvet, he is not touching any pie, how did you even hear that?" Coco asked mortified.

Velvet took great joy in taking another picture.

-o-

Linda sighed as she sat on Jaune's couch. "They should be in Vale by now."

"I would think so with that kind of ship. Professor Branwen's ship barely took three hours."

Jaune laughed as he could hear the slight groan come from Linda. "Tripod. What is it?"

"So you and Coco?"

Jaune shook his head as he passed her a bottle of soda. "Nothing going on, just a good bit of teasing and nothing is going to come of it."

Linda did not look convinced. When he looked like he was going to cave he turned away. "Shut up Tripod."

Linda laughed. That was all she really needed to hear. She leaned back and hmm'ed. "Should I make reserve a date for the wedding?"

"Haha. I just happened to see Fern and Sandy and instantly thought of the song."

Linda sighed. " _Those_ two need to be a song. He sang for like what? Two hours non-stop before she said yes."

"You did see that I made Coco stop after the seventh verse? I was not going to try and break Fern's twenty-eight verse record."

"Don't think its a record when no one records those Jaune. But you had seven verses. How often were you sneaking a peek at her in a few short hours?"

Jaune had no answer for that one. So he ignored it. Linda giggled at the victory. "Well, they are gone now. And that means the migration is over! I am so done with babysitting. I am going to miss seeing people our age though."

Jaune rolled his eyes. "Tripod, go join that team. They still have been asking you right?"

Linda sank into the couch. "Yeah… but what about you?"

Jaune scowled. "Don't try and pull me into that. You're just nervous. Go do it already. And I've been thinking of taking a break actually."

Linda laughed. "You finally going to take that vacation you been promising yourself for the past few years?"

Jaune looked away and swallowed the lump in his throat. "Yeah, something like that."

-o-

Jaune repressed a frustrated sigh as he looked at the white building. Andrew patted the teen's shoulder before the three patrolmen walked into Pearls' Manor. They were welcomed and immediately escorted into the mayors' office room. It was lined with books and comfortable leather chairs. _If anything it was far more comfortable than the hearing room._ Jaune thought with a bit of anxiety in his chest.

Pearl sat in her chair front and center. Her strawberry hair was a mass of curls that framed her face around square glasses. Next to Pearl were two men Jaune did not recognize, but by the sucked in a breath from both Koben and Andrew, they knew who the two were right away. Pearl smiled at the three. "Good evening gentlemen. Please take a seat. I believe introductions are in order. To my right is Nickel Julian, our Governor for Anvil. To my left is Professor Ozpin the headmaster of Beacon."

Jaune exchanged greetings along with his team before Pearl eagerly wiggled in her seat. "I thank you for your patience Patrolmen. The past two weeks have had us do a lot of negotiating due to the sudden population drop. Now Jaune. You understand the situation we are in don't you?"

"Yes ma'am. We knew that if Anvil would need to save funds, I would need to be one of the first to go. I have said I would freely volunteer to be cut first to Andrew in the past." Jaune looked over to Andrew who nodded in agreement. Jaune was a fully established patrolman. A single Patrolmen was by far the most expensive asset to support. A squad of huntsmen could be seen cheaper until you consider everything a normal patrolman does from relaying sensitive messages, training, police work, coordination during a crisis the list could be as long as the mayor and by extension, the council in Vale decided of him. To replace one when one retired or died in the line of duty was not just about money, but resources to fully train one to survive on their own. And the job was usually a lifelong career. Jaune thought thickly, _Usually…_

"Jaune, patrolmen take years to develop. Because you started so early and the fact that the last major crisis has matured you quicker than we expected I have had a hard time finding you a home." Pearl looked over to Nickel.

"But if you are interested, there are two options if you wish to continue to be a patrolman."

Jaune exhaled the pent-up energy. "What would these options be sir?"

"The first would be a small mining village south of Patch Island. You will be out of my jurisdiction and under a new governor. They have had a spurt of growth and crime has started to become a serious problem. It has only now started to generate enough money to find a second patrolman. They currently have one but he will retire within the next four years. The town is looking to groom a new patrolman. They had found a candidate but were willing to wait to see what your reply was. Your pay will be smaller than what you had here I'm afraid. And you will not have the support of housing like you had here as well. It will be a new kind of challenge."

Jaune nodded. While not ideal, he could work with that. "What was the other option?"

Jaune was curious about the other man who sat quietly. He leaned forward against his cane, both hands rested on the top lever-like handle. "The other option will be a larger challenge. I can not guarantee you legitimacy of being a patrolman however. But for all intents and purposes, you will be the only patrolman for Beacon and by extension Vale."

Jaune felt both Andrew and Koben exchange looks behind him. "Pardon me for not understanding, but why would an academy need a patrolman?"

The older man smiled slightly. "Vale itself does not have a patrolman precisely because they have huntsmen readily available. But it comes at a cost to Beacon itself. We often have to send out our faculty, or huntsmen we have chosen to aid in investigations. You have experienced this yourself last year when Qrow Branwen came to Anvil for one such investigation."

Jaune suddenly understood what his role would be. "But because I will be working for Beacon there is no way to legitimize my role as a patrolman in the eyes of the capital?"

Ozpin smiled. "That was quick, but yes. You would be a patrolman without any territory and no city to protect. But you would be the first response team as a representative of Beacon to the Kingdom of Vale as a whole."

Jaune would have sunk into his chair if he was not sitting down. "Why offer this to me?"

Ozpin smiled and his shoulders moved for a moment while he allowed a low laugh. "No patrolman who has their own territory would likely ever take the job. We can not afford to pay you much. If I am not mistaken, the job will be about the same if not a little less than what Nick here would offer you for his job. You will be considered a part of Beacon faculty and as such you are subject to rules and laws within Beacon not Vale. You would have room and board. But as my faculty would explain to you, you may feel isolated from the rest of the world until you are called. It is up to you to find ways not to feel so."

Koben murmured, "Grim mothers bitch."

Jaune silently laughed at Koben's reaction. "Do I have any time to think about these two offers?"

Nick answered first, "I can not give you any time I'm afraid. The sooner we commit to a course of action the better for Beryl Rock. That is the name of the settlement."

Jaune nodded and understood. Jaune looked between the two men and thought about the offers. More work and he may or may not be considered a patrolman, or be a patrolman and be very poor for a while.

 _A long while._ He amended to himself. _At least four years._ But if he had a choice, where would he do the most good?

When Barty had told him there would be offers. Jaune had not expected this. He knew he had to make a choice now. The only real swaying factor was what he could do in both situations. Beryl Rock had a patrolman they were just training a replacement if he did not go. But Beacon was trying something new, they never had a patrolman. Was that reason enough?

He nodded to himself. It was. Because there was one thought, one conclusion, he decided in his time in limbo. He looked up to the three adults in front of him and confessed, "I talked to Barty- Doctor Oobleck about what I would do a few weeks ago. I told him being a patrolman was my calling. I would never want to do anything else. But that does not mean I have to be _called_ a patrolman." Jaune looked over his shoulders to Koben and Andrew.

"A patrolman is more than a title. It is who we are." Jaune stood out up and faced the headmaster. "Headmaster Ozpin, I accept your offer."

A/N: Thank you all for the reviews! This story took a while edit but I am happy with how it turned out. Don't know when the next one will be up. Since these are long it will probably be another long while.


	4. Chapter 4 The Edge of Vale

The Vale Kingdom was a unique experimental government in Remnant's history. While there was never one king, the council operated as if they were several monarchs. Each position on the council was hereditary. Every councilman had a voice in the capital of Vale as well as control of their own district of land beyond the capital's walls. It allowed the group to operate the country with impunity for key situations that were vital for Vale to survive.

The only exception to this control, of course, were the academies. Early learning facilities like Signal Academy were out of the purview of Vale thanks to the island it rested on. It was its own separate country for all intent and purposes. It ran itself with both revenue and defenses. The other location that rested outside of Vale's sphere of influence was Beacon Academy.

The school is regarded as one of the finest academies that trained huntsmen for the defense of all countries not just Vale. It was for this reason that all academies could not be devoted to a single country. But that did not leave the Vale Kingdom without any options to exert influence over Beacon. While they could not oppose Beacon, that does not mean they would not be able to make it difficult for Beacon to function if the headmaster was not… agreeable to some compromises.

As much as Ozpin would loathe to admit it, they held a good bit of sway over Beacon for a number of years. Many of the council have started to rely largely on military power of Atlas rather than the huntsmen for support against grim. It was a cheaper and quicker solution to have several droids on stand by in settlements rather than huntsmen. Ozpin would not admit it to anyone, but he was getting on in his age as well. He had a few decades in him, but compared to the rest of the huntsmen, his age was nearly unheard of.

Ozpin gripped his cane as he walked into the conference room. Long has Vale divested itself of the grand standing of having a castle like courtroom. Instead everything conducted for the kingdom were held in rooms like these. Quiet office spaces that held no more than ten leather seats.

"Good afternoon Ozpin."

"Good afternoon Councilmen." Ozpin took his seat and set his cane next to his chair. "Thank you for seeing me before your session ends for the day."

"You have the floor headmaster."

Ozpin took out his scroll and set it on the console in front of him. "This young man is named Jaune Arc. He was recently released from Anvil's contract as a patrolman."

The group looked at their own consoles. The teen looked young but the years of service were noted by many in the room.

"This is Pearls' man." The council members turned to Anvils governor Nickel Julian. "He was adopted into the patrolmen when he was very young. He proved himself well there over the years. Pearl was reluctant to let him go."

Ozpin nodded. "I spoke to Pearl Monelle myself. I wanted a good idea of who this boy was thanks to a suggestion of two huntsmen who have worked with him in the past. You remember Professor Branwen, weapons designer of Signal Academy?"

Ozpin moved his scrolls menu and it pulled up a case where Professor Branwen had traveled to Anvil for an investigation.

"I heard it was a botched assignment." Came a dry reply. Ozpin looked to the councilman who said that. It was Patch's governor, Coral Soek. She was young for the council but her sharp eye made her a good replacement for her ailing father.

Before Ozpin could reply, Nickel answered for him. "Don't Coral. That investigation led us to a weapons manufacture ring that had been happening in Vale for years. They may have had a setback, but it led us to capturing and breaking the ring. On paper it may seem like a failure, but it was the start of a major victory."

Ozpin felt he needed to add, "And it was discovered by Jaune Arc."

The screens moved back to the young man. Barely seventeen based on the report. "You know that the police here in Vale have had a hard time working with our huntsmen for the more difficult assignments."

The group did not say a thing but a few agreed judging by the looks of their faces. "I have contracted Jaune Arc as a patrolman for Beacon Academy and he will be made available to Vale as a replacement for our huntsmen in the event you desire our intervention."

"He's young Ozpin."

The headmaster turned his head and addressed the comment with, "He's been a patrolman for nearly four years. He's survived out in the field through quite a few incidents which tested him and Anvil as a whole. It's one more than the cut off for most patrolmen."

No one made a reply to that. Each councilman had their own patrolmen in their designated settlements. The mortality rate for patrolmen dropped substantially if they survived at minimum three years. If they still continued to be patrolmen after that, they were career patrolmen until they died. Unfairly, that death usually was in the field.

"You do understand what you are proposing then Ozpin?" Coral asked.

Ozpin looked over to the councilwoman. "I fully intend to make the young man the lead responder for the capital. We have not had a patrolman in Vale thanks to Beacon Academy's presence. It has always allowed huntsmen to easily be available to handle issues as they arise. But that should not keep and frankly, responding to criminal activity is not the huntsmen's job. We were just a cheap alternative. For Vale it will still be a cheap alternative as Beacon will be paying for the service. But it can finally be done with someone who is trained to handle civilians and aura users alike."

There were a few scowls but it was Nick who added, "And it would be done by someone the police could trust." He gave the other council members a pointed look. Huntsmen had not always been welcomed into investigations. Either from the completely different experiences, or the distrust of powers normal officers could not comprehend. But that lack of harmony has spoiled too many cases in the past. "You never needed our input on your choices Ozpin. But you have my support in this one."

Ozpin gave the man a tight smile before he looked at the rest of the group. Every member knew he had made the decision without their approval. The headmaster was merely being courteous in speaking to them.

"We will inform the police force and arrange to have him work along with the Vale PD in the coming weeks if you plan on the young man to be your dedicated representative. We will happily take as much advantage as we can from the offer. Thank you Headmaster Ozpin."

The headmaster looked at each member of the council in the eye before he gave a slight nod and stood. He pivoted in place before he walked out the door.

Ozpin walked away from the meeting with most councilmen approving of the choice. When the doors closed he looked at the time. He tapped his cane to the ground once while he thought. _I do hope Qrow is actually showing Jaune the area and not just a bar._

-o-

Qrow led his new charge down one of the seedier streets of Vale. "You'll like the place. If you ever need information this should be the first place you go. Junior is an information broker and is neutral to everything that goes around here in Vale. If you find anyone you know you should arrest, wait till after you both leave a good distance if you want to try. You don't want to pick a fight with him or start one at his place. You would make too many enemies for harming him and his establishment."

Jaune nodded but stayed mostly silent as Qrow had led him around most of the day from place to place. Jaune allowed himself to play the part of a kid. His cereal hoodie did most of the work for him when they walked into several more of the adult areas. Qrow did not want Jaune broadcasting himself as a patrolman just yet and posing as a kid following a signal professor lent just enough credibility to allow the two to pass by many of the places he would need to get to know to learn information he could not find on his own.

This early in the day the club had the doors wide open and two men in black suits and red ties swept the front of litter from the previous night. "Before I forget." It was the only warning Jaune had before he felt his hood get yanked up and over his head and down over his eyes. He stumbled a step and sighed from his disarrayed hair as it poked from under the hood and into his eyes.

"Right-right, you don't want people see what I look like."

"Just yet." He added for emphasis. "You will be identifiable enough by the hair. There are not that many blondes in Vale." Jaune looked around at the observation. He thought back to the last two days he had been in Vale. Civilians tended to range from blue hair to brown, black, orange, red… _Huh_.

Jaune pulled his hood a little bit more over his eyes. Qrow nodded in approval as they walked in.

"May I help you gentlemen?" Jaune looked over to a woman who was just coming into her twenties. Long and black straight hair framed her delicate face.

"Ms. Malachite, we are here to see Junior. It's only for introductions. There is no rush."

The woman nodded and raised her arm, "This way please." The two followed her inside the bar. It opened below them to a dance floor where speakers were being tested along with several scaffolds of lights. Jaune took a stool next to Qrow as the woman went around the bar. "Anything to drink while you wait?"

Qrow ordered a hard drink while Jaune shook his head. He simply seemed to be content to look around. The girl looked at the cartoon bunny emblazoned on his chest and teased, "No milk?"

"No thank you." Jaune said absently as his attention was on the crafted neon spiral on the theater. The girl backed away disappointed in not getting a rise out of the kid.

Qrow set his drink down. "That is Melanie Malachite. One of twin sisters who are bodyguards to Junior."

Jaune refocused. "I see. Is she normally that playful or do I look that young?"

Qrow tipped the glass up and drank most of the contents in one drink. "Probably both. With the hood up you look like a tall kid. This may take a while since we came unannounced. There are a few tidbits for you to think about. Don't bring Vale PD in with you if you come. They are not welcome and while they know about Juniors operation, they tend to just turn a blind eye. Junior benefits the huntsmen as much as anyone else. Information is exchanged either with money or with information of your own. Junior can do some inquiries for extra but he isn't a investigation team. You should only come here when it's a last resort unless you really want to make money or want to get into debt very fast."

Jaune nodded suddenly wishing he had taken the offer to order something to drink. "How will I know if its worth it?"

"Junior is reputable enough that if you just offer it he will pay honestly. His reputation is his livelihood. Just remember that there are other people here that may listen in to get something for free. Junior and his men do their best to keep it clean, but they are not omnipresent."

Qrow sighed as he looked at his empty glass. Thankfully they did not have to wait too much longer. A man with a thick groomed beard walked in from the floor above them and down the stairs. Qrow stood and Jaune followed his lead.

"Mr. Branwen. Welcome. Do you need another drink?"

"If you please Hei."

"What brings you in?" Hei popped the cork of his finest whiskey and poured Qrow another glass.

Qrow smiled at the glass and inhaled before he sipped. "This here is Jaune. He will be working in Vale for the foreseeable future. I'm taking him around to introduce him to everyone."

"Good afternoon sir."

"Jaune, a fine name. What will you be doing? If you don't mind me asking."

Jaune smiled with amusement at the probing question. He looked from underneath his hood. "Would you mind keeping this bit of information to yourself for a week?"

Junior laughed as he looked over to Qrow. "I like him already. You have your week, free of charge."

"I will be working for Beacon for investigations that require a huntsman to work alongside Vale Police."

Junior raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't seem something that needs to be kept under wraps. But it will be hard to mistake you with that bunny on your chest."

"Don't worry, it will be covered by a blue vest when I'm out in the field."

Junior slowly started to nod and smile before he tapped the counter. "I get it. Very nice. It's about time too. As promised, you have your week. Was there anything else you needed while you're here?"

Qrow was about to say no when Jaune interrupted him. "Actually. I do."

Qrow leaned back as he finished his drink. "You paying for this one right?" Jaune was not sure if Qrow was referring to the drink or the answer for his question but just nodded and rolled his eyes. He pulled out his scroll to pay as he asked, "Do you have any information on a woman named Neo."

Junior rolled the name around his tongue before he pulled up his own scroll and did a search. He shook his head. "Nothing. Sorry. At least you don't need to pay for the question." He shrugged the apology.

"Thanks. It was a long shot at best." Jaune paused while he saw that Qrow did indeed expect him to pay for the man's drink. He looked over to Junior one more time, "Think a bit of information on the person I asked about would pay for that?"

Junior smiled as he took Qrow's glass. "I'll be the judge."

Jaune sighed as he kept his scroll out just in case. "She is a woman just a bit older than the malachite girl. Likely a former patrolman who's gone rouge." Jaune stopped himself before he brought up White Wolf. He had not heard anything after the initial investigation and Qrow did not look like he would volunteer information. "She uses illusions to disguise herself. I believe her original eye color is sky blue, but she appears as a di-chromatic pink and brown. They tend to switch colors while she fights. She uses her hands to talk, but not in Unified Sign Language, its all gestures. Neo is mute."

"Where did you spot her last?"

Here Jaune looked over to Qrow, but his expression was closed. Jaune supposed it was up to his own judgment at this point. "A Vale controlled compound in Anvil. She broke through security for a theft. I can't say anything else beyond that."

"Is she wanted anywhere in particular?"

Jaune shook his head. And did he ever look. Every kingdom had nothing resembling Neo in their database. "No bounty. As far as I can tell I was the first person to report her, or live to tell the tale. I almost didn't. She nearly killed me and my partner in our last few fights."

Junior looked at the teen for a moment and exhaled through his nose. The man looked down to his scroll and cycled through his bank account. "Here, take it." Jaune saw a pop up on his scroll for two and a half thousand Lein.

Jaune nearly choked at the amount and looked up surprised. Junior huffed as he explained, "If she is as skilled as you say then they will pop up again. A finders fee if you will… for the first sighting. If you find any other interesting characters I'll buy it so long as you keep it exclusive to me."

"Done. I assume it's this much includes buying the exclusivity too?" Jaune said, stunned at the money that was flooded into his bank account. He could live off that for a month and then some.

Junior smiled as he set the glass down. "It is. Thank you for understanding. As a reminder, I am not obligated to contact you if I find information. You will need to come back and ask again." Junior gave the teen a cruel smile. "A pleasure doing business with you gentlemen. And as I promised, I'll hold your information for seven days. Good luck on your job." Junior stepped back from the bar and walked away.

"Junior?" The man stopped to turn at the two. Jaune raised his hood. It was the first time Junior saw the patrolman's blue eyes. The cold studying look ran over the older man. "If you do meet her. Tell Neo I am still looking for her." Junior paused as he took for granted the kids age, it was his mistake. The kid may be young. _Too young_ to have even started training for the job. But those were a patrolman's eyes.

Junior turned away and headed back to his office. Behind him he could hear Qrow congratulate the young man for the good first impression. "Did he ever give a first impression." Junior muttered to himself. He put his red shades on and started to make a call to start getting his own business affairs in order. No need for the patrolman to find anything against him.

Melanie and Miltiades Malachite watched the pair go before they looked to their boss. He closed the line ten minutes later and sighed. He walked passed the twins very amused as they quietly sipped their coffee's on his desk. He spared a considering glance at the two. "Keep your noses clean for the next week until you can recognize the patrolman by sight."

The girls both gave an identical, "Ok Hei." before they left. They recognized the dismissal in his tone.

-o-

"This is where we part ways Jaune. I need to head back to Signal for the morning classes."

"Thanks for the guide Qrow. I'll be in touch if I need anything."

"Just a reminder, keep your wits about you, I volunteered you for a job later this week since I am still working. Oz wanted me to go on a quick errand but it would have to wait a few weeks while I finish off the classes. With you here, he might send you instead."

Jaune smiled slightly. "I hope so. I'm not sure how useful I am right now just walking around as a tourist."

The older man laughed as he started walking to the bullhead headed west. "See you later Jaune."

Jaune was left at the footsteps of the bullhead and at a loss of what to do now. He did not feel the urge to go back to his apartment inside Beacon. The day was still relatively early as well. Ozpin had said he had free reign over the campus and would be called if they need him for anything. That kind of freedom seemed daunting.

Jaune actually had an urge to run. All he did today was walk. He had not _walked_ anywhere in so long. He actually could not remember the last time he walked through Anvil. Jaune looked around the campus and saw the forest behind it. Beacon did have a forest curated with grim. The blonde sighed to himself. _This is what I am reduced to doing as my pass time now?_

-o-

Jaune gave a contented moan as he stretched his back. He felt so much better after an hour of running through the forest. The exercise and the air cleared his head completely. He covered less ground than he expected in the unfamiliar forest but that was to be expected. The canopy did not allow for the trees to grow _too_ closely, the area was unfamiliar and the trees here had roots that popped up in the oddest places. Jaune had to make sure he picked his steps carefully in some of the more well worn areas in case his foot caught on something.

Occasionally the patrolman would see a few grim but they were so far and few between. If Jaune was honest with himself, this was the first time he ever felt safe outside of a settlement. The place barely registered as a threat. Time seemed to roll by when he finally got the alert of the time from his scroll. Jaune took a seat on a tree branch to rest and drink his water bottle before he put away the scroll. The sweat rolled down his neck as he stood back up.

Jaune felt it was time to move onto the next section of the forest when he saw a small explosion a fair distance away. It was to his right between him and Beacon. Jaune only needed to veer slightly to go in the appropriate direction.

The patrolman slowed to a stop a fair distance away and watched the team. He could only tell they were students because there were four of them and they were only slightly older than Coco. They had been split into pairs and fought a good size group of grim. They were slow compared to the huntsmen in Anvil, but their approach to killing the grim was sound. Apparently the first explosion was to give the group room to break apart the grim into manageable groups. It seemed to work. Shortly after Jaune arrived the grim were dwindling rapidly.

A chunk of a grim flew in the air with a teen's shout. It turned out to be an arm that was cut at the meat of the shoulder. It landed heavily against a tree Jaune stood next to. The tree rattled from the blow before the black mass of grim faded into smoke. Jaune allowed himself a sigh of envy at the group. By Anvil standards it was a small grim, but the best he could do would be to distract something that heavy and it would probably hurt him in the process.

The team finally cleaned up the last of the grim with a cheer to each other. Jaune thought it was time he moved on. A single step launched him backwards before he pivoted in mid air and continued to run. The forest was large and he still had not explored it all.

In the back of his mind he still remembered he still needed to meet with the Vale Police force the next day and hopefully some friends.

-o-

After the introduction to the Police Force, Jaune felt embarrassed to say he felt more like a comic super hero than an actual patrolman. While patrolmen had duties to the surrounding settlements, Jaune only found he would walk the streets literally looking for trouble. Today Jaune was sans blue vest and hoodie to get a feel for the town and wait to see if the police would request help. He was told it would not be very often and Ozpin required nothing of him unless he was called.

"I guess that explains why the salary is so low. I'm barely doing anything." Jaune muttered to himself at a corner cafe. He sat on the outdoor deck with a iced coffee and chips. He was not sure what to make of his new life. He found he preferred the morning runs through forest out back behind Beacon than the actual work.

It was not a good sign.

Jaune's scroll made a muffled blip and he eagerly took it out. He cheered to himself when he saw it was from Coco. It took two days but he was finally able to find a time where they were free. Hence his time waiting at the cafe.

"There you are!" Coco waved. Behind her, Team Coffee went straight to the counter to order. Coco just sat down across from Jaune.

"Afternoon Wench." Jaune greeted her when it was just the two of them. She gave him a playful wink before she leaned back in her chair.

"I am so going to have to find a way to pay you back for that." She rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Those people were way too pleased thinking we were going to tie the knot."

Jaune just laughed. "Any punishment was worth it. Assuming Velvet got the message." He saw the rest of the group walk up to the table. "Hello Velvet, I hope you got a few good pictures out of that."

"Give me your scroll." Velvet had similar thoughts as she eagerly pulled out her scroll to send the pictures over. Jaune grinned as he pulled out his scroll and handed it to Velvet.

Fox relaxed in his chair next to Yatsuhashi who managed to not look so large behind the outdoor table. "Don't forget the one with the pie." He suggested helpfully.

Coco nearly reached to grab the scroll out of Velvet's grip but Yatsu rested a meaty hand on her shoulder to stop the sudden lunge. He looked over to Jaune. "It's been a few weeks since we last met. What brings you to Vale?"

Jaune finished his drink and sighed. "New job."

Fox resisted the urge to react although he did nearly flinched as he picked up his cup. Fox never did tell Coco the story about Jaune nearly getting ousted from his job. Apparently Jaune got fired anyway?

"What are you doing now?" Fox asked instead.

"I actually work for Beacon if you can believe it. Barty basically scouted me for a non existent post and Ozpin agreed."

Coco shook her head. "That sounds so weird hearing you say the doctor's first name."

"I basically work as an independent investigation unit on behalf of Beacon." Jaune smiled at the total lack of reaction. "Have you had any missions yet that were not just hunting grim?"

Velvet shook her head. "Nothing like that. I have heard of them, but most missions we have been going on are grim hunting, extermination and so on."

Jaune smiled. "Good to hear. Vale had been making Beacon do some investigation work for years now. Ozpin was not too happy about that since his huntsmen were all trained to hunt grim. You all were never meant to be crime fighters."

Yatsu hummed aloud. "That does not mean we wouldn't get those missions eventually."

Jaune nodded. "That's right. Not every settlement has a patrolman. And not every suspected grim activity is actually grim. Ozpin had been toying with the idea of sending me out for those missions exclusively but then it defeats the purpose of allowing huntsmen who were stationed in Vale to branch off."

Velvet bounced in her seat as she remembered, "Do you think I can spar with you later? I still wanted to learn how to fight like you do."

Jaune smiled, "Of course. If you are all curious we could find a good training field tomorrow if you have the time." Jaune silently begged them to agree, he needed to do something. The total lack of activity was driving him stir crazy.

Velvet gave Coco a hopeful look. The leader simply rolled her eyes. "Of course we can Velvet. You should have a fall back if you run out of ammo and this is a good option."

Jaune's unsaid question was written all over his face as he looked to Velvet for some answers. The huntswoman smiled with a slight amount of guilty blush coloring her cheeks. "Since I can use so many styles I've been designing a weapon to take advantage of my semblance but the dust needed for it destroys the copy every time I would use it. Coco's been hunting for a good fighting style I can use when I do run out."

Jaune gave an audible "Ah. You think my style may be your best solution?"

Coco nodded. "Velvet does not actually have a lot of aura. It's just enough to get her moving in dangerous situations but she needs a weapon that can take advantage of her semblance to counterbalance the weakness. But what we put together this past year isn't quite the answer we were hoping for. Really, as soon as her hypothetical weapon runs out of ammo her aura would only be strong enough to help her escape."

Jaune finally understood why they were so interested in his style. It was one made for people with no aura. Someone with little to no aura could easily adapt with the right training. "Just remember it's not made to fight grim, but I suppose if you keep a little in reserve it should do the trick when you need it. We'll see how you take to it tomorrow then."

Velvet nodded. Her cheer smile only widened when she sipped her coffee.

Jaune grinned as he turned to Coco. "So what's to do here around Vale?"

-o-

The buzz alert from his scroll roused Jaune. The early morning calls. Now this, he was familiar with. Jaune opened the scroll for a moment before he snapped it shut. It was a request to see Ozpin immediately. Jaune pulled on his hoodie and splashed his face with water. The clock as he walked out of his room said it was just past four in the morning.

The cold air helped him wake up more. By the time he made his way to the elevator to the headmaster's office Jaune was alert and ready for whatever the headmaster wanted. The elevator door opened to Ozpin's office at the top of the tower. "Good morning Ozpin."

Ozpin greeted Jaune with a cup of coffee in hand. "Morning Jaune. I have a urgent message that needs to be sent out immediately. A bullhead is waiting for you at the launch pad to take you south west before it drops you off in a town called Blue Quarry. From there you need to track down this woman." Jaune pushed his scroll forward and the image of a woman in her mid twenties looked back at him. It seemed to be a photo of an old team. She was front and center in the picture and she smiled and waved at the camera while she pushed off someone as they were about to fall on her. "She will be moving quickly on horse back from town to town. Be prepared to make a few long rounds to find her."

"What's her name?"

"Autumn. She is a member of our faculty although not a teacher. She runs the outreach program to find aura users who may be interested in attempting to join Beacon. I will message you if she makes contact with us before you do. But that far out, scrolls will be unreliable for communication."

Ozpin pressed a few keys on his console before he looked back to Jaune. "The message is in your scroll. I apologize for its cryptic nature. It would mean very little to anyone but her. Report her response and come back. Scroll communication will be nearly non-existent that far out so expect to be a while on the field before you can communicate with us again. While you work for Beacon, you may not be recognized as a patrolman that far out into the frontier. It is well known there are no patrolman in the capital. Don't challenge the authority if they cause an issue. Report back if you are being blocked."

Jaune put his scroll away. "I understand. Is she in danger?" The blonde could not imagine it was for anything else if the message was urgent enough to wake him up at this hour.

Ozpin paused to look at the patrolman but nodded. "I am sorry Jaune. It is too soon to know for sure what kind of danger it is, but we have received information that some dangerous people have had a sudden interest in her."

Jaune swallowed while he processed that information. "If I encounter problems?"

"Bring her back as quickly and safely as possible."

Jaune nodded. He was not really happy with the lack of information but he was in no position to complain. If the woman was in danger he would intervene as he was able. "Excuse me Ozpin. I have a ship to catch."

Ozpin waved a hand in dismissal before he looked at his console to resume his work.

Jaune made his way into the elevator where it dinged its decent. He bounced on his toes as he waited for the elevator to open the doors again and allow him to leave the tower. The patrolman had never been outside of the plateau that protected Anvil since he started his job as patrolman. He was looking forward to seeing how other places looked. Jaune opened his scroll and looked at the message. It gave him a momentary frown at the cryptic text.

 _Castle the King._

-o-

Jaune stared out the window unsure how the settlement could possibly live like that. The ship windows went from a bright orange of the morning dawn to black as it landed in Blue Quarry. When Ozpin first mentioned the settlement, Jaune thought of some kind of fortified settlement on flat lands, or like his own home town, a place resting in a strategic location. The ship lowered below the mountain line and _into_ the Quarry. The settlement itself was being carved into the limestone walls and apparently went deeper underground. Giant machines moved above ground that drilled against the mountain side in plumes of dust on the far side of the mountain. Jaune raised his hood and pulled his shirt over his mouth as he walked off the ship and followed the directions to go below ground where the air was thankfully far cleaner than the surface.

Jaune knew it was still early morning when he arrived but after an hour below ground he would not have been able to tell. The settlement was so far underground that all the light was artificially created by dust crystals.

The first place Jaune went to was the office for the local militia to introduce himself. It became apparent that he made a mistake. The settlement had a militia but this close to the capital, they were not familiar with the ways of patrolmen. The group were instantly wary of him.

Jaune was eventually introduced to someone who knew what a patrolman was and the woman thankfully allowed him access to the town to look for clues for Autumns' last known location. Sadly enough, there were no leads.

Either the woman had not come through this town, or it had happened so long ago, she would have been forgotten. Jaune laid down his map on a table in a restaurant. The area had three major paths. The city filtered in travelers for the bull heads, but it was more for commercial use rather than tourists. Jaune finished his sandwich and stared at the map. _Ozpin said she made no contact and he could not contact her through her scroll._ Assuming she was fine, that means should could not have gone closer to Beacon. Jaune disregarded a path leading towards inner Vale. That left two. _She has a horse_. Jaune scratched hsi chin. He could feel the soot collecting on his face.

 _IT's little wonder she did not stay here for long. The air could not be good for either her or her horse._ Jaune lowered his gaze back to the map and tapped his finger on the path that lead west towards Vacuo. The path south led to more industrial dig sites like this one. "I hope you are worried about your horses health." Jaune stood up and made his preparations to leave the town in the morning.

Jaune left at sunrise the next morning and moved down the road with purpose. It was miles long and it would eventually narrowed as he moved closer to the mountain range. Jaune passed several long caravan trains and silently gave the groups an amused smile as they instantly became alert when he ran into their line of sight and ran past them in a blur. Jaune never asked much about the caravans that ran into Central back in Anvil, but they must have taken weeks if not months to make the trip. Jaune could not imagine traveling for that long. Jaune refocused on the road ahead of him.

The foothills had several settlements that laid out in the open plains. They pock-marked the main trade route. Each one rarely needed a patrolman or local huntsmen for protection. These were rest stops for the caravans, and Jaune learned long ago such places expected the bodyguards of the merchants to be the defense against grim.

Jaune ran by such a small settlement, its tall wooden walls were made of growing trees planted along in two circles and spaced between wooden walls. Each thick tree seemed to have been growing for decades. They all stood thick as a mass of green that stood outright among the barren rolling hills. Jaune could appreciate the defenses of the settlements as he found another identical settlement. Places this small rarely needed the defense from more than a few straggler grim that would chase the caravans. Jaune was happy for the next settlement that came into his sights. It meant he did not need to run through the night or try and sleep in the open.

Jaune shuddered at the thought.

The patrolman had learned his lesson from his last stop. Jaune did not introduce himself to the militia. He simply kept his blue vest in his backpack and showed the locals an image of the woman. Jaune had to ruefully admit it. He found he was able to get more information when he did not wear the blue vest. Most people appeared to not know what it meant, but recognized that he represented someone and kept their mouths tight.

But as a messenger, Jaune could look for a recipient. The locals seemed to try to go out of their way to help the poor lost teen. Jaune wanted to growl in frustration at the fact but let it go. He was making some sort of progress. The next days run ended in another outpost settlement along the trade routes. Jaune knew he had pushed it hard to get to this village as it was late night and he skipped dinner to make it into the safety of the walls. When Jaune made it to his room, he did not bother to take off his gear and just slumped onto the bed to sleep.

The next day, Jaune felt refreshed enough to walk around the settlement. The stores and offices were made of handcrafted clay walls and wooden beams. Jaune wanted to cheer to himself. The outpost was tiny. Seven large shops made up the commercial area. The third one that ran a husbandry and animal supply recognized her. The shop owner had freely informed him that a woman with a white horse passed through just under a week ago. That at least meant he was going in the right direction. What began to worry him now was the map he owned. It did not extend much beyond the mountains.

Jaune turned off his scroll as he left the small outpost. He was warned that the next settlement was on the other side of the mountain and travelers camped out at night for the three day trip. The older man gave him a worried look as he said there were no scheduled caravans expected to come from that direction for another few weeks.

Jaune thanked him for the concern but started to prepare to leave again in the morning. Jaune was confident he could take the length in a single day, but he could no longer guarantee he would have a place to rest at night and a place to charge the scroll if he caught the woman on the way.

One glance at the map and he realized he was approaching closer to Vacuo lands than he was prepared for. If the woman had crossed the border he could not go any further. At the bend around one of the mountain paths the patrolman slowed and looked at the road. It wound across the hills before it went back down the other side of the mountain. Jaune seriously contemplated if he should cut across. When he glanced at the road and how it bend and meandered, Jaune sighed and looked up to the sky. He couldn't take any shortcuts. What if the woman was still on the mountain?

Ultimately he decided to run the whole length. He might be just placing himself in needless danger if he found a grim that some how was fast enough to chase him. He immediately looked to the sky. There were several birds in the sky but they were all going in separate directions. No sight of grim.

Jaune was thankful. If there was one kind of grim that would cause him problems, it would be an airborne one. Jaune let his mind wander as the hours rolled away. He passed two well used campsites but neither of them looked to have been used in the last few days. It was into the early evening when he finally exited the mountain path. The moon lit the way clear and it was all the signal Jaune needed to pick up his pace on the flat road.

The south side of the hills he ran down were barren of vegetation. Jaune frowned at the sign that he was so close to the Vacuo borders and their historically well known deserts. Just at the edge of the horizon he could see the jagged rock formations that made the natural boundary between the two kingdoms.

Jaune moved at full speed now that he was on flat land. The curving mountain trail slowed him more than he cared to admit. There were quite a few blind bends that would change in height abruptly at inconvenient times. He was thankful he got out of the region as night fully set in with the clouds that now covered the moon.

Jaune sped up as he saw lights of a settlement around a row of small hills. He was eager for a good break for the night and an inn sounded wonderful to his aching back and legs. As he approached the gates he saw the group start to arm. When he was within fifty meters he slowed down to a walk but did not approach further. He waved at the seven guardsmen. It looked like the settlement was more geared towards protection from people rather than grim. _I guess this far out they would have plenty of warning if a grim approached the town on this flat land._

Jaune had pulled out his vest and slid it on. He could see why the guards armed themselves when a kid walks out of the forest by himself at night. At least this far out, they would definitely have a patrolman.

"Good evening. My name is Jaune Arc. I am a Patrolman of Vale."

The men did not lower their arms, "For the whole country?" Came a sarcastic reply. Jaune looked and noticed there was a huntsmen in the group. The huntsman gave him a steady look.

Jaune matched the stare for a second before he shook his head. "No, just the capital." He slowly raised his hand to his pocket and extended his scroll. "You'll need to turn it on, I kept it off in case I didn't clear the mountains and had no place to recharge."

The huntsman approached and opened the scroll. He quickly pulled up the identification number and badge. The group marginally relaxed. "Why are you out here in the middle of nowhere?"

Jaune took his scroll back and pulled up a different screen. "I was sent out as a messenger unfortunately. It was cheaper to send me than fly a ship all the way out here to look for someone. Have you seen this woman?"

Jaune looked hopefully to each man. The huntsmen recognized the picture. "Did she have a horse?"

Jaune smiled in relief. "A white one, she has been by here. How long ago sir?"

"It's Lait. And she actually came into town just yesterday. Her horse threw a shoe and it injured itself. She should be at the inn now."

Jaune looked at the group. "May I enter?"

The group suddenly realized they still had not welcomed him in. "Sorry about that patrolman, go ahead. The inn is at the center of town, you can't miss it. Our patrolman may come and see you tonight."

Jaune nodded. "I understand if he does. I'll be at whatever is there for dinner before retiring. Thank you Lait. Good evening gentlemen." Jaune bade them a goodbye and sighed as he took a leisurely walk to the center of town. The inn was a single level building across the street from the bar. The lights were on and the smell of some kind of savory meat wafted in front of his nose. That brought a happy smile. Jaune thanked the world for the promise of hot food and the restaurant would be the only one nearby. That would increase his chance that Autumn would be there right now. If she wasn't, he would have to leave a message at the inn counter. Wouldn't that be an awkward conversation? Jaune was sure a rumor would start right away about a teen who made a request to leave a message for an older woman at a hotel.

Jaune figured that if the local patrol were going to come look for him, he should stay in the most obvious place and took a seat at a table near the center of the restaurant. The wall had a few dishes written across it with the price of each. After he looked around and saw a waitress see him, he relaxed and looked around the actual bar. No Autumn tonight it seems. Jaune sighed as he resigned himself to an uncomfortable conversation later in the evening. He would need to leave a message at the inn.

Joy.

The food was good at least. Half way through his meal he saw someone walk in with a blue vest. The man looked back and forth and Jaune charitably raised his hand to wave the other patrolman down. The man was in his late forties with a streak of gray already lacing through his beard. Jaune figured that must have been from stress.

"Good evening patrolman." Jaune offered after he finished his bite and drank some water.

The older man sat down and smiled. "Greetings patrolman. Lait said you were from Vale?"

Jaune nodded. "Yeah. Before that I was in Anvil."

The man nodded before he marginally relaxed. "How's Koben?"

"Still complaining, Andrew is doing well too if you met him." Now the man relaxed. "I take it there has been trouble here?"

The man shook his head. "Not unless you brought it. I was just concerned when you said you were from Vale. My name is Brae. Welcome to Auric Hills."

Jaune was curious where he was. The place was out of range of the map he had picked up. "Care to join me? I have never talked to another patrolman other than Andrew and Koben."

The night was more pleasant than Jaune expected. The conversation with the woman at the counter of the inn… less so.

Apparently Autumn had registered under a different name. It was only thanks to the picture he had of Autumn that the clerk realized who the woman was. She raised an eyebrow at a request. "Sir aren't you a little young to chase after someone like her?"

Jaune felt the heat around his neck. "Ma'am I am a patrolman from Vale, I have just been sent as a messenger. Could you please let her know a patrolman has been sent from Ozpin to see her."

The clerk gave a long drummed out hum before she smiled. "Sure, fine. I'll let her know. Where do you want to have her see you?" She raised the lock key to his room as she handed it to him. Jaune immediately got the insinuation and felt himself wishing the earth would swallow him whole as the clerk's smile turned coy.

"The bar will be fine whenever she is available tomorrow. I'll be there all day. Just tell her to look for the patrolman jersey." Jaune took the keys and walked away doing his best not to turn back and see the woman's half judging and half expecting smile.

Jaune sighed as he entered his room. It was a furnished small square with a desk and bed but not much else. The two lamps held just enough yellow light provided by dust but no fireplace. Thankfully the room was already warm enough and Jaune simply took off his shirt and flopped onto the bed to sleep. Jaune's last thoughts were of the irony that he got exactly what he asked for, something to keep him busy after the slow week. Jaune wanted to groan into his pillow at the chat with the inn clerk. _Well that's over._

Jaune willed it out of his mind and slowly let his mind drift and onto someone he did not mind thinking about. _Wonder what Coco's doing._ He nearly muttered aloud. Another thought occurred to him as he passed out but was lost just as quickly. _Did I tell Coco that I left?_

-o-

Jaune was thankful for the book the inn had sitting in his room. Jaune flipped through the book pages as he left. His plans for the day was just reading the book until Autumn met him. It was nearly lunch when he saw the door open with the woman in question appeared. A dark green hood covered her head and draped over her shoulders. Jaune closed his book when she spotted him. He raised a glass of water to her before she walked over.

"Good afternoon, My name is Jaune Arc."

The woman cautiously looked at the teen before she sat down with a chair between them. Jaune did not even seem bothered by it. If the message was this urgent it was better she be this careful. Jaune slowly pulled his scroll out of his pocket and opened the message. He set it down on the counter and slid it over to her. Her eyes darted to the scroll then back to him. He did not even move other than to continue drinking from his cup. She looked back at the scroll and gave a surprised inhale.

"Do you know what this means?" The woman's voice was deeper than he would have thought from someone so tiny.

"Not a clue. I was just hired on not even two weeks ago. It was urgent but that's all I could tell. I just came to deliver the message and asked if you had a response."

The woman reread the words and shook her head in worry. Jaune saw the almost frightened look on the woman. "Are you ok?" he asked.

Autumn looked up suddenly and snapped out of her stupor. "I- I'm fine. Thank you for coming out here to let me know Mr. Arc."

Jaune stared at her for a moment. He had thought he would have delivered the message and go back but instead, he offered, "Were you going back soon?"

Autumn nodded quietly. "Yeah. This is important. I just need to wait for Autumn's leg to heal. Maybe the day after tomorrow?"

Jaune gave her a confused look. "Autumn?"

"My horse."

Jaune sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "What is your name if you don't mind me asking."

The first bout of levity appeared as she smiled. "Did Ozpin say my name was Autumn?"

Jaune just nodded. But the woman nearly laughed and probably would have if the apparent news was not so dire. "That would be Qrow's pet name for me. My name is Amber."

Jaune shook his head. She may not have laughed but he did. He chuckled at the whole idea of asking around for her horse. But that _was_ exactly what he had done. It was how he found her. Jaune let his laugh fade even as Amber smiled at his laughter. "Amber, do you have someone who can watch your horse?"

She looked confused but shook her head. "Why?"

"That's how I found you so quickly."

That made Amber think before she sighed. "I really love that horse. If I leave it here, would you be willing to escort me back?"

Jaune nodded. "I was going to offer regardless."

"Thank you Jaune. Let me try and talk to Mana. She's the innkeeper. Autumn needs more time to recover anyway."

Jaune stood with Amber. "I'll draw up a path for us. I'll meet you at the counter of the inn in an hour if that is fine?"

Amber sighed but nodded. "It's better we get on the road as soon as possible."

-o-

Jaune stepped by the doorway and knocked politely at the office door. He waited for the call to enter before he walked in and saw the person he was looking for. Brae waved the young man in from his desk. "Good afternoon Brae."

"What can I do for you Jaune?" The teen smiled at the colloquialism. It was usually just a greeting but he actually had a request.

"Amber and I are leaving today. The news she received was important enough that we should get back now."

Brae nodded. "If you are camping, make sure you stay clear of the south end. The huntsman will not clear that route of grim for another day or so."

Jaune gave him a grateful nod. "Thanks. Amber is worried she may have someone else come looking for her. Would you be able to keep them occupied for half a day if they come looking for her within the next week?"

Brae frowned. "I was just joking when I asked if you were to bring trouble to my town."

"It should be nothing. But I am just being cautious. Whatever the message was, it made her too concerned to wait."

Brae stood up with a relenting sigh. "I'll do my best, but there is no guarantee that I can. If someone is looking for her, there are only so many routes she can take."

"That's why I am escorting her."

"I'll do my best if someone comes by asking questions."

"Thank you Brae." Jaune bade him a farewell. "That's one thing out of the way."

Jaune walked back to the inn and grabbed his bag to make sure his wrapped sleeping sack was still bound tightly to the bottom of his bag. The map he looked at had already made him alert to several adjustments to the route they would take. _We need a route that is not the way I came and one that would be difficult to follow by aircraft._

Jaune knew he was making a lot of assumptions. When he closed his bag he mentally added. _Better to prepare for the worst than just assume I ran so far ahead they would be days behind._

Jaune found Amber speaking with the inn mistress. "Back."

Amber waved at him. "Mana will watch my horse for a month before I have to give her up. Thank you again for that."

"Sure thing dear." Jaune looked at Mana, it was a different woman than the one he spoke to the previous night. He thanked the stars to avoid the looks _she_ would have given him.

"Where are we heading Jaune?"

"South. We'll hit a town in three days and be able to send a message through the CCT."

Amber nodded as she grabbed her bag. Jaune produced his key and the book he borrowed. "Thank you for the hospitality."

"Travel safely you two." Mana smiled at the two.

At the entrance, he bade the gate security men a good day before they walked a good space and just outside of the range of the hills. "Ok, let's get off the road."

"We're not going south?" Amber asked even as she obediently followed.

"If someone did follow us out this far, I rather not think what would happen without support. No chances. Brae said the south hasn't been swept of grim yet. We're going in the opposite direction. We are skating towards the western border before we swing north. We should hit a small port town in a few days where we can hopefully get a ship to Patch."

The walk for the rest of the day was spent walking through normally untread land. It was later that afternoon when Amber called for the two to stop.

"A few small grim are nearby. Give me a moment to clear them out." Jaune stepped back and scanned the hills. Amber simply pulled out her staff and walked up one of the hills. Jaune saw the grim pack of beowolves circle and charge her. Amber's staff spun in a series of lights and flames before the grim were cleared. Jaune couldn't help but whistle his appreciation. That was as fast as the huntsmen in Anvil could clear.

"Is that all of them?" Jaune scanned the hill line a few seconds longer while Amber put away her staff and walked back down the hill.

"It is. They were pretty small so they may have been hunting for a long time."

Jaune relaxed marginally. "The whole hills have a good sign of no grim settlement nearby."

"Really?" Amber paused to look at him in question.

Jaune looked equally surprised at her. "You couldn't tell?"

Amber looked around the hills. Sparse land with few wild life. "On horseback, most of the land is a blur. I rarely stop until I get into a settlement. Most villages are within a days travel on horse. How did you figure there were not that many grim in the area?"

Jaune pointed to the dissolved smoke stack of grim. "We didn't enter their territory. Most grim have hunting paths. This far away from the roads? You wouldn't expect humans to run by here. These ones seemed to have just been wandering around. If the grim could travel that freely around here there are no other grim competing for space."

Amber gave an _ah_ of understanding before the two walked for another half an hour. Jaune and Amber stopped in the shadow of two hills well out of sight of any roads. Jaune laid down his mat and knelt next to the pit he created for a fire. "You've been quiet for a while now."

Amber looked up and blinked away the drowsiness away. "Sorry, the message from Ozpin is a lot to take in." When Jaune didn't respond she smiled again. "You really don't know what this is about, do you?"

Jaune sat back as the fire began to take. "No. I've barely been in Vale long enough to figure out what I am supposed to do there. Qrow had warned me that I may have to do something for him but I don't think this is what he was referring to."

Amber had pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "Really Ozpin. What were you thinking?"

"In his defense, Barty had championed me to join Beacon as a patrolman."

Amber smiled into her folded arms. "I can't go into details, but I am a keeper. Ozpin's message is a reference to a chess move. He basically wants me to prep the item to be moved out of Beacon."

Jaune just hummed while he looked over the field. "Is that the real reason why you are out here? In case someone does go after it, they don't have the key."

Amber hummed out an affirmative before she leaned back. She felt far more comfortable knowing the kid had a general idea of exactly who he was protecting. This far out in the middle of nowhere she could take comfort that it was more secure than if they would have been in a private room in a town surrounded by even accidental eavesdroppers. Amber just kept her voice low so it would not travel. "Yeah. But it's more than that too. My abilities are not safe around people. I can use aura fine, but my other skills are dangerous. I never did learn how to use them well. I could only ever get by in a pinch."

Jaune smiled. "I have something similar in my family. We have poor aura control. It's why I never wanted my unlocked when I was offered it."

Amber gave him a smile in cameredre. "It's like when my dad wanted me to learn to play the piano. I could play some notes, but never did pick it up well enough to play anything. My other abilities are related to the item I am protecting. I figured it was safer away from the populace overall." Amber sighed now that she thought of her job. "If Ozpin is asking me to prep it to be moved, he's saying Beacon itself isn't safe."

Jaune took a moment to really understand before he looked back at her. "Beacon is not safe for anyone is what he means."

Amber nodded before she went quiet. "You can see why I was so worried when you first gave me the message. Ozpin would be desperate if he asked me to move it now."

"You think that was why he decided to hire a patrolman?"

Amber gave him an apologetic smile. "Yeah. He may think you will be needed very soon."

Jaune let his mind wander at that. The pair ate in silence and Amber bid him a good night while he tended the fire. Jaune envied how easily she fell asleep out here in the wilds. He had always been nervous whenever he had to camp out in the field below Anvil's relative safety. Koben and Andrew had taken him a few times with a huntsman to teach him how to live off the land when they were satisfied that he could run at a steady pace without stopping.

Jaune looked at the fire before he exhaled all of the stress from the escort mission and looked at the woman one more time. _Weary._ It was the word he would have used to describe her. She always seemed to enjoy the moment. But it was always with a hint of exhaustion. Her eyes always had a sad acceptance of something she could not control. It made him wonder what he had gotten himself into. But then Jaune figured the unknown would come regardless of how much he thought of it. It was better to do accept and adapt to it with a clear mind and a rested body. That would come with the morning.

Jaune looked at the flat clear land. A few simple alarms would alert them if anything came within range. Nevertheless, Jaune stayed up later than he should have to keep watch. The fire had long since been put out when he decided to turn in. Jaune sighed in annoyance with how cold the night was. The fire pushed off most of the cold before it was out. But the chill still bit him more than he expected. He finally allowed himself to doze to sleep once he felt his body demand to shut down.

He hated sleeping in the open. He forced himself to relax and allow himself to place a lot of trust in those trip wires to keep them safe.

-o-

Jaune awoke to the shuffle of grass. He instantly relaxed as his vision saw it was just Amber. She had stirred from her sleeping mat and sat up to yawn. Jaune exhaled as he sat up. It was early dawn. He sighed as his jacket was slightly damp from the humidity and morning dew. He would have thought it would have been warmer this far south but it looked like the shade of the hills kept the air too cold. Jaune stood up and groaned at the stiffness of his joints.

Amber bade him a good morning. Jaune noticed she was a lot quieter this morning as they both ate a light meal of sweet bread and water before they set out for the day. Jaune was thankful that the woman appeared to have been a huntsman since their pace was far faster than a civilian's but still much slower than his own. What he thought would take several days may take only two.

Just one more night of sleeping out in the open. It was the only comfort as they ran over a road as they traveled north. Jaune had them avoid the woods completely keeping to the flat orange hills that signaled how close they actually were to the Vacuo desert.

Jaune set down the wood for the fire. They had another day of travel but that didn't mean that they may have been out of range of a CCT. He powered on his scroll and tried to test the signal only to shake his head. There was no guarantee that he would get a signal in the next town. But it was also a port. That alone hopefully meant they had the support for one. It would be that or light signals to organize the ships in the bay.

Amber sat beside him with a sigh of relief. She took off her shoes and rubbed her aching feet. There were several pops as she moaned at her ankle.

Jaune smiled at the act. "How are you holding up? I know the pace must be pretty fast."

Amber stretched her legs and hummed, "My feet are killing me but I think it's more from my shoes than anything else. They were made for stirrups not for long runs."

Jaune glanced at the boots. The heel was a higher arch than most shoes he had seen for running. He gave her a sympathetic smile. "Just let me know if we need to slow or stop. We will only hurt ourselves if you get injured and we have to stop completely." She nodded as he leaned back. Jaune exhaled and realized he still had his scroll in his hand. And pictures he still had not looked at…

Jaune did not realize how many pictures Velvet sent him. There had to be at least sixty. Some were from their mission from Anvil but most were shots of a progressively blushing Coco in an airship. Toward the end, there was one picture of Coco struggling to get out of her safety harness on the bulkhead. The next picture was a hand half covering the lens with the rest of the pictures pointed at the ceiling.

"What got you so amused?"

Jaune looked up to see a curious look from Amber. Jaune flipped to a random picture and turned his scroll so she could see it. The picture was a rare one with Coco without her usual shades. Her hair was down as she sang her lines next to Jaune. Jaune in the picture was on his knee with a guitar looking at her. "That's Coco. She's a student at Beacon. I met her team last month while they were on a mission to Anvil. Her teammate gave me a bunch of pictures just before I left to find you. I never did look at them."

Amber kept the amused smile as she moved to the next picture. "What were you singing her?"

Jaune flushed as he guiltily said, "The Wench and the Stable Boy."

Amber eyes widened before she looked at the teen and laughed at his embarrassed face. "Why do you even know that song?"

"I had to stay quite a few nights at the bar in case there was a fight. The late-night patrols happened frequently enough where I just got bored. I don't drink and couldn't even if I wanted to. A few regulars realized I played the guitar and that led to me singing for a good number of nights."

"But that song?"

"There was a famous story of one of the old regulars sang it to his future wife. Hours later she said yes. That same couple was the ones that invited me out that night. So it just popped in my head when she asked me to sing her a song."

Amber laughed as she handed the scroll back to him. "Both of them must be some women."

"Coco's a good friend now, but at the time I just wanted to get some revenge for putting me on the spot during the escort. It kinda backfired when she never did learn what the song was supposed to mean that night. Hence the pictures." Jaune finished as he raised his scroll.

Amber smiled, "I take it she learned later."

Jaune powered off the scroll and tucked it into his breast pocket. "Velvet, her teammate, filled her in on the flight back to Beacon." Jaune sighed thinking about it.

"You thinking of pursuing that?"

Jaune abruptly answered, "I'm not sure if it is a good idea."

"What? Why?" Amber asked surprised.

Jaune gave the older woman considering look before he looked up and tried his best not to sound like he was bitter. "I may not be a teacher, but I _am_ an employee of Beacon. Aside from not being sure its outside of the rules of my position, it could be an abuse of power if Ozpin has his way and decides I should lead the disciplinary committee come next semester. He's still on the fence about it. Really I think he would do it just to keep himself amused. He looked way too happy when he suggested that it was within the realm of possibility." Jaune looked at the fire and scratched his head. "I'll wait to see what he says, as embarrassing as it is, I need to bring it up with him. And soon."

Amber frowned. "That… Sorry for asking."

Jaune patted her shoulder as he stood to add another log to the fire. "Don't be. The worst that can happen is that he says I shouldn't. She is still a friend."

Amber sighed morosely. "But you think you might like more."

Jaune looked up to the night sky. It took him a moment to find the words while he thought of Coco. "I… like thinking about her. She smart, curious, single-minded when she wants to learn something. She's caring. I like her. I just can't do anything about it. At least not yet."

"If it makes you feel any better, she does look like she is leaning a little too much into you than necessary in that picture. Like she wouldn't mind if you stuck around."

Jaune shook his head. "Doesn't address the underlying problem. But thanks. It's nice to think that it could have been mutual."

Amber gave him a soft apologetic look that he did not catch. Jaune snorted as he felt like he should keep the conversation going. "Got any advice?"

Amber shook her head. "I wish. The only guy I cared about tried his best to keep it platonic. But like you and that girl, there was a time when it could have gone somewhere."

Jaune sat back and only said moments later when she did not offer any more. "The guy sounds like an idiot."

Amber just laughed. She rubbed her eyes after a moment. "Qrow is an idiot."

That made him look up. "Professor Branwen?"

Amber nodded. "Yeah. The same guy that called me Autumn. I didn't actually go to Beacon. I was found and trained up when I was sixteen. Qrow was like my mentor. He had no idea what to do with me either."

Jaune smiled as she looked back into her memories. Amber had a smile much the same way Jaune felt when thinking of Coco.

"Qrow was a few years out of Beacon himself and had no idea what to do with a teenager." Amber giggled as she pulled up her water bottle. "We traveled quite a bit together as he trained me up with aura. When he dropped me off with Ozpin I was devastated."

Jaune wondered at that. "He just dumped you there?"

Amber blushed. "I think he began to pick up that it was more than a little hero worship after I turned nineteen and started drinking with him. One day we both woke up and not as hungover as either one of us expected to be in each other's arms. I was happy. And well… Qrow panicked. He dropped me off at Beacon within the week."

Amber sighed.

"That… sounds harsh. But you said he had been willing at some point?" Jaune offered. But Jaune could kind of see it from Qrow's perspective as well as Ambers. Qrow must have realized his student's feelings were dangerous. But then again, would Branwen have panicked and pushed her away if he didn't feel something as well?

"It was just over a year later. He was starting to come around. His teammates were supportive to a degree." Amber looked up and grimaced. "I had an uncomfortable chat with his twin sister. She seemed happy enough so long as I was aggressive about it." Jaune furrowed his brow in confusion. Amber laughed. "I still don't know either. She was weird. After about four months he had really begun to come around to the idea. But then I took this job and we sorta fell apart. I haven't really spoken to him since."

Jaune gave her a sympathetic look before he surveyed their campsite. "I hope you guys figure something out. He still comes and goes in Vale. Maybe you two can finally catch up."

Amber nodded with a look that shared equal parts optimistic and withdrawn.

-o-

Jaune was thankful of Amber as she dealt with the grim. Her staff danced around her as the butt end caved a masked grims face. Three more boarbatusk squealed in anger before they charged her. The small group of oversized grim had taken residence in a destroyed village. The settlement must have fallen ages ago. Overgrowth had reclaimed much of the buildings and roads. It was only because they had been looking for a clearing to rest that they even found it.

Jaune kept a lookout while Amber killed off the last of the grim. "We're clear Jaune."

Jaune looked back in time to see the last motes of black smoke fade from the hog like grim. Jaune gave her a nod. "I am surprised that people would have tried a settlement here with no real terrain advantage."

Amber put away her weapon. "It's more common than you think. They try and trust that walls would be good enough or their protectors will be strong enough. It can work for a while. But negativity sits in an area and collects. Eventually, it just reaches a critical point where Grim will start gathering to it. The first ten years they were probably fine. As soon as enough people passed through town grim likely started gathering more often since there is no way to clear out the negativity that lingers when people gather."

Jaune thought of Anvil. It was why the settlements were so small and spread apart. It was also the reason why they had so many heavy restrictions on population control. "I can't think of any reason that it would be worth it to try to set one up here."

Amber shrugged her shoulders. "Who knows. Maybe this was just the junction point for a few different trade paths."

Jaune tilted his head and did notice that the streets were wider than he felt they should have been. Maybe she was right.

"We are close to the port." He allowed. He opened his scroll. Their trail would start leading them downhill from there all the way to the ocean. Juane mentally cheered as he received actual static for a connection. He moved around and realized the trees were not helping. "Amber give me a second. I need to get to higher ground. I think I might be able to get a signal now that we are on the other side of the mountains."

Jaune gave a whoop of satisfaction as his scroll blipped to life. He instantly regretted the good cheer. Coco had sent him several messages. "Oie, I did forget to message her." Jaune did a quick glance over the messages and sent her a message.

 _Sorry I missed our training session. Late night mission. Should be back in a few days. I'll tell you all about it when I get back._

Jaune then tried to make a call to Beacon's headmaster but found he could only make a message. If the message was that important… "Hey Amber!"

Amber looked up the tree where Jaune had perched on the highest branches. "What's up Jaune?"

"What's that chest move called?"

"Castling."

Jaune sent the message. _Castling._ Before he closed the scroll and jumped down.

"Let's get moving. We should be able to make the port by late night."

Amber stretched her calves one more time before Jaune set a jogging pace for the two. The journey down the mountain was far faster than the journey up the mountain. On this side of the mountain, the heat and salt water did not allow for much vegetation to grow. And no trees slowed the two down to the main road. Amber and Jaune both cheered when they slowed to a walk on the well-used dirt path.

Amber hid it well but the sweat on her brow and the labored exhale told Jaune she was wearing down after the pace for the last few days. Now that they had made it to the road they could slow. But there was also another reason for that as well.

It took asking two different wagons to get someone to agree, but Jaune was able to get the two of them a lift the rest of the way. Jaune's shoulders relaxed as the wagon rolled along the highway that led to the town. The dry land slowly turned to orange sand. Jaune wanted to look at a map when he got back home. During that run, they must have crossed into Vacuo at least once. Eventually, the road turned into a bridge. Jaune was so lost in thought that he would have missed it if the wagon didn't jostle and suddenly make a different sound as it ran cross stone rather than dirt.

The bridge extended a long way into the water with a city ahead of them. Jaune whistled at the port town. The map gave no real indication that it was an island. The city was made of pink buildings made from excavated and carved coral among an ocean of blue waves.

Finally, they made it to fortress Coral Blue. Jaune poked his head out and enjoyed the salt air that blasted his face and threw his hood off his head. Jaune and Amber took in the sight of the port. It was better described as a major city rather than a port town. The island was raised on high pink and yellow rock. Water collided into the side of the port town walls in a constant loud crash.

"I guess coral would be easier to pull from the ocean than cutting wood from miles away on land." Jaune observed while staring at a particularly large building that cast a shadow on the bridge. The coral stood out as a sort of accent for the building most of the tower was made of some kind of cement that matched the formed coral frame.

Amber hung her body out of the wagon to get a better view of the port. The island was reinforced with several boulders that acted as the foundation in parts to keep the city raised higher than the water. Where there were no rocks, there were metal and concrete walls that filled in parts and smoothed out the edge of the island that touched the water. Cannons jutted out like flags in all directions to target any air born grim threat.

While the two were busy looking at the spectacle, the bridge slowly ascended to the islands city level. Jaune from his point in the wagon could just barely make out the port where commercial ships harbored. The two got out of the wagon and thanked the man who took their lein. After the wagon left them behind, Amber and Jaune just stood in awe of it all.

"I guess you never been here either?" Jaune asked.

"Nope. I heard that there was a port here but I never knew it was this well developed." Jaune thought back to the overgrown mountain village. There was little wonder they got a signal out that far. This settlement was massive. It easily was as large as four of the settlements in Anvil but in such a small place. Buildings as tall as the ones in Vale stood proudly along the streets.

"Let's get some rooms for the night." Amber suggested when they finally stopped looking around. While they had gotten to the settlement earlier than they expected, it would be getting dark soon and the public transports would be closed for the night. Jaune allowed the fatigue to catch up with him. Not physical, but mental fatigue. The constant effort it took to look for threats of grim for the past few days drained him more than he would like to admit. Amber said she would take care of the grim, but Jaune still felt it was more of a habit being in the open that forced him to constantly scan and look for threats.

Jaune walked out of his room and knocked on Ambers' door. Now that he had the time to clean up and soak in a shower, he figured now would be a good time to speak with Ozpin. Amber called out, "Who's there?"

"It's me. Figured you would like to make a call."

There was a pause as Amber cautiously opened the door. Jaune gave a sheepish shrug. "Sorry. Figured now would be a good time as any to catch up."

Amber opened door wider and allowed the teen in. Jaune suddenly felt nervous as he watched her turn around and moved to her bed and sat down. She had swapped out of her riding pants and into an airy light blue dress that stopped at the knees. Jaune walked in and pulled out his scroll. He refocused on the matter at hand. The receptionist patched them to Beacon. The call barely started to connect when Ozpin answered.

"Mr. Arc. It is good to see you." He apparently was sitting at his office desk. Ozpin's face sat front and center on the screen and looked to both of them with a grateful look at Jaune.

"You too sir."

"Hiya Ozpin." The older woman added. "We are at a town called Coral Blue. We plan to try and get a ship to the capital tomorrow."

Ozpin nodded before he glanced over to Jaune. "Has Amber informed you of anything Jaune?"

Jaune gave a side glance to Amber who just smiled. "Only that she is a keeper for something in Beacon and she needs to move it. And that Beacon may no longer be safe." He gave Ozpin a hard stare at that.

"I can not disclose everything now, but the time of events left little opportunity to inform you of all of what has happened within the last few days."

Jaune nodded and understood. "Understood sir."

"Having said that, just know that Amber needs to come to Beacon to move a relic of the past. Several parties had made inquiries about Amber's location the morning I ordered you to search for her. One of my agents informed me foreigners were in Vale and had been looking for her by name and description."

Amber moaned. "That's not good Jaune. I don't technically exist."

"We'll keep you updated then. Any idea how they found out information on her?"

Ozpin shook his head. "I am afraid not. I have made some contacts for increased security in Vale and Beacon. But a few of those reinforcements will not be here for nearly two months. Just in time for the start of the new school year. We will have to make do with what we have until then."

Jaune thought about it all but asked, "Do you think there was a leak?"

Ozpin shook his head. "No. I believe the person who is behind this knew about Amber long before she was chosen as the keeper."

Ozpin looked at Amber. The woman shuddered a the thought.

Jaune scratched his head while he thought what he should do next after securing Amber back at Beacon. "Ozpin? Can you look into several alternate ways for you to move this relic out of Beacon? If they are looking for her, I feel better if we have a few ways to move it without waiting in Beacon for too long."

Ozpin recognized the merit. "I will make some inquiries now."

"Ozpin may I make a suggestion?" The headmaster looked up. Jaune frowned as he considered his next words. "Assume they know what you are doing. And plan accordingly."

Ozpin's paused at the advice but gave the teen a firm nod.

-o-

The horn of the ship rattled the air as they left the dock. The liner was a mid-size cargo ship that looked more in the line of a cruise ship than one used to transport merchandise. When Jaune pointed out they could potentially find a ship that could get them there faster, Amber mmm'ed to herself against the warm breeze. "The ship will take a day and a half to get to Vale. Why not make it comfortable?"

Jaune rolled his eyes but followed her into their cabin. The pair chose a single room with double beds for the trip. Amber insisted since she was paying for the trip. It was far more expensive for a second room. He had never actually been on a ship before and his feet seemed to shift underneath him at odd intervals. He patted his stomach and sighed. While it turned out he wasn't motion sick, he did find the uneasy footing making him lose his appetite.

The salt air on the deck the next day did little to appease his stomach as it flipped and rolled along with the ocean currents. He leaned over the railing on the second deck and looked at the ocean as they sailed by several islands. He could see several grim swim along the islands they had steered clear from. There had been an alert for the huntsmen to come to the deck an hour ago but they had not had any problems yet. Jaune balefully looked at Amber as she sat in sandals and a sundress. She was content with the warm air and the breeze that ran through her hair.

"You going to be OK there young man?" Jaune looked over his shoulder to see an older huntsman in his late forties. His hair started to gray and sunburnt cheeks smiled at the teen.

"I'll live. It was worse when I was a kid. Parents took my family across the ocean. I was pretty much unconscious the entire way."

The man laughed as he continued to walk past him to continue pacing the length of the ship. Jaune felt his ears perk when Amber said from above him, "He's right you know. You look awful."

Jaune smiled before he forcefully inhaled and exhaled. "I'll be fine. At least we are almost to the island. We can get off the ship by noon, take a short flight and be in Beacon by dusk. I'll be able to sleep this off in my own bed." Jaune sighed as if that would have been the most wonderful thing in the world at the moment. Amber smiled at him before she leaned back against the wall and watched as the island of grim sailed behind them.

The rest of the day seemed to have moved just as slow as the ship seemed to sail. Amber laughed as she could feel Jaune's apprehension and eagerness to put the sea faring vessel behind them when they finally made land. Jaune set his bag on the counter of the terminal as they both showed their scrolls. The agent scanned both of their scrolls and bade them a welcome to Vale. On the other side of the terminal, Jaune stretched as Amber tapped his shoulder. He looked to see who she was pointing to. The older man stood relaxed as he started to move towards them while waving to get their attention. Jaune followed Amber's lead.

"Yes?" Amber asked cautiously.

"Port Security. Will you both come with me for a second?"

Jaune stirred slightly at the request. "Is there something wrong?"

The man shook his head. "We just need to confirm a few things for passengers that came along the freighter. I apologize for taking up your time." Amber furrowed her brow but nodded as the man took them to a private room.

Jaune looked around the room. It was a small office with large windows. The view outside showed the sun begin to turn to dusk. Jaune felt himself losing focus as if that should have been important. The man coughed to get his attention. "I am sorry. My mind was wandering." Jaune felt his cheeks flushed.

"Thank you for the moment. Are you Amber? An employee of Beacon Academy?"

Amber nodded before she looked to Jaune. He shrugged. No one would really know who he was. "How can I help you?"

"Professor Ozpin had asked us to expect you both. There had been a change in plans and he requested you both to wait here at the terminal. He is sending someone from Beacon to pick you up. It may take some time so you are welcome to sit back and relax here. There are refreshments on the table for you both." The man gestured to the table before he excused himself.

Amber looked at the basket of fruit and sighed at the lack of lunch. She reached for the basket but gasped when it was suddenly empty. Her world spun as Jaune grabbed her and slammed them both away from the basket. Amber's teeth clacked together as they both hit the wall. "Jaune?"

"Snap out of it. It's an illusion."

Amber blinked but shook her head and tried to look around. The world had melted into an empty building that had collected dust over years of disuse. The basket moved into a gloved hand with a woman with dark hair and yellow eyes who glared at the two before she turned to someone else. Jaune followed the glare and spotted a woman with green hair and a dark tan.

The yellow eyed woman glared at them through dark hair and a scowl. She gripped her hand and the glove hissing as something squirmed in her grip. Jaune pulled Amber behind her. "We've got to get out of here."

The gloved woman raised her swords from the small of her back and they clicked into a bow. She pulled out several arrows and aimed at the two of them. Amber reached for her hip before she swore when she realized she did not have her bag nor her weapon. Their equipment was still with their bags somewhere. "Stay away from the gloved one." Jaune muttered as he pulled out his scroll.

"What?"

"She wanted to touch you with that glove. Stay awa-" Jaune dodged a hail of arrows and put away the scroll. He moved quickly and noticed that all but one arrow blurred before they disappeared. He glanced at the illusionist who was trying to stare at him. He sprinted for the girl. The world around him nearly shifted twice. It eventually peeled away when he moved faster. Her eyes tried to follow him but he recognized that look when someone lost track of his movements. Jaune ran faster and wide from the arrow the archer shot at him. If he was too fast for the illusionist to lock on to him, he needed to make short work of her.

Jaune ignored the gasp from Amber. He would have to trust that she could defend herself. He had to handle that green haired girl first or they could be fighting shadows without knowing it. Jaune spared a thankful thought to his gloves. He gripped his metal capped fists and heard the archer fire an arrow at him. He dodged it before he heard another arrow released with a _thwak_. Jaune raised his gloved hand and tilted his head unable to dodge it completely. The arrow grazed against his metal plated glove where it sliced across his cheek and tore open his ear lobe.

The illusionist smiled when she took out a gun that extended into a long blade. The blood from his face just screamed he had no aura. She swept low to high intent on gutting him like a fish in a single swing. Jaune proved faster. He pivoted to dodge and backhanded the woman with the metal knuckles against her ear. Her world spun as her inner ear shook from the blow. The illusionist grunted to keep herself standing as her head swam and her balance swayed. Jaune grabbed her by the hair and dropped to his knee. The patrolman pushed the illusionist head down against the concrete in a sickening thud like a melon hitting a table. Her eyes rolled in her skull.

Jaune took a split second to confirm her aura didn't break and raised another metal plated knuckle and slammed her temple with enough force her head bounced. Before he could secure another hit, a bullet from a gun nearly took his head. He flipped over the woman's prone body and grabbed her weapon. He jumped back several feet to look at the third person. He pulled his scroll again and glanced at it before he tucked it back into his pocket when he heard a growl from his newest attacker. The youngest of the three was the tallest with silver gray hair and shirt and black trousers that hung past his boots. The man swore as he sprinted to Jaune and raised a kick. Jaune did not see where the first gunshot was fired from. He threw the woman's weapon behind him and cautiously ran to meet the teenager. His eyes darted over the teen to look for the silver haired boys weapon. It saved him when the kick that he had dodged released a bullet from a hidden gun on the kicker's leg.

Jaune let himself fall flat on his back as the bullet and kick sailed over him. The teen smiled as his foot quickly turned in mid-air. Jaune rolled away as he realized the kicker was about to stomp him. Jaune kicked a steel covered toe against the back of the teens knee.

"Arg!" The silver haired teen gave yell in pain as Jaune heard a distinctive _tink_ from the contact. The patrolman still laid on the ground but twisted his hip and his free leg swung around the still standing attacker and punted the kicker solidly in the abdomen. The teen grunted again and fell, now fully off balanced. Jaune's eyes widen as he felt full contact as the teens body caved around his foot. The kick to the leg must have hit something vital for his aura to have receded.

Jaune glanced back to Amber. She had flames wrapped around her eyes and hands but she seemed to have trouble breaking past the woman's aura. Jaune could feel the heat as the archer deflect the bolts of fire Amber threw at her. The two seemed to be at a standstill. He would ask about that ability later, but at least it gave him an idea.

"Amber get ready!" Jaune called. He rolled onto his stomach and with two great pushes from his legs he was already on his feet in a sprint towards the archer. Both the archer and the teen behind him yelped in surprise. The woman had only a moment to draw her bow. The teen Jaune had been fighting had no chance to catch up. Jaune looked at Amber and moved a thumb over his shoulder.

Amber immediately threw a fireball at the boy. He growled as he was engulfed in flames. Fire licked his clothes but he remained largely unharmed. Amber turned her focus to the green haired woman who laid prone on the ground. She was slowly starting to stand up. Amber fired another fireball at the illusionist. The sole man of the group stood in front of her and blocked the hit using his aura. "Amber! Keep moving! Don't let that girl have time to get an illusion going."

Jaune met the archer and glanced at the pure white glove. The… thing that looked like it popped out of the glove was absent. The woman growled as she twisted the bow and the two blades that made it separated. She swung one and stabbed the other at Jaune. The patrolman dodged the blows but developed a scowl that matched hers. A few of those swings were faster than he thought. He stepped forward once to push her shoulder but was rewarded with a stab that cut a bloody line across his chest when he turned his shoulders to dodge. Jaune completed a flip with his toe making one last kick to ward her off before he pushed back. Blood pumped hard in his ear and he could feel the side of his face slick with his blood from his ear. It still had not stopped bleeding with all the activity. Jaune's fists were raised and he slowly walked around with the archer turned swordswoman following him with both blades raised. The woman was a lot faster than her friends and Jaune could feel is stamina begin to sap away from the blood loss.

The woman growled as she swung both blades one after another in two shallow arcs to pin him down. Jaune dodged one and stepped in closer to her to slam the plated palm of his hand against the second blade's hilt right above her hand. The attempt shook his arm to his shoulder and back. Before he could let the painfully wrap his arm, he twisted the woman's arm with the blade to push her forward. He held firmly to the blade hilt and kicked her hard against the armpit. The sudden blow made her stumble forward but not before she was forced to let go of the hilt as he continued to twist it out of her fingers.

Behind Jaune, he could hear Amber shout out, "Finally!" Cold air lifted Amber several feet into the air. Flame flared from her eyes. She thrust her arm forward around her opponents. The concrete floor cracked and blackened with an explosion that shook the building. The man held the unconscious illusionist in his arms and he looked over to the yellow eyed woman.

The woman scowled at the patrolman. She glanced at Amber. "Mercury, give us cover!"

Jaune looked to the two other attackers. It was the kicker that raised and lowered his heel in a dust explosion that blinded Jaune and Amber. Jaune ran to where he thought Amber would be in case they tried to do anything. When the dots in front of his eyes faded he looked around to find the three had fled. But not without leaving something behind.

Jaune rubbed the sting across his chest and looked to see the blood but not much else from the wound. He let himself catch his breath and was happy to no longer hear the pounding of his own heart in his ear. "Are you OK there Amber?"

Amber nodded and exhaled. "Yeah. Sorry that took so long. Calling up that kind of energy is hard in the cities. Not enough nature."

Jaune looked around as he caught his breath. "Nature?" he asked disbelief in his voice.

"I don't know how it works either. I just know it's easier to call up energy when I'm not in a city. How did they find us? It felt like we moved too fast for them to follow us."

Jaune nodded. "We did, but they said it themselves. We were passengers on a freighter. As to if they had been searching this entire time, or knew to look for us at the right time. That's another question." Jaune lifted the woman's sword he had taken. It was a white piece of metal with several embroidered patterns across the blade. Hopefully, it was distinct enough. "If anything we have a few clues as to who they are."

"I have a good idea who they were working for Jaune. But a little more information on them would be helpful. Thank you."

Jaune was suddenly aware how bloody his clothes were and gave Amber an annoyed look as she looked largely unhurt except for the slight sweat she built up. He pressed his hand to his cheek to apply pressure to help stop the bleeding.

Amber seemed to have caught him staring, "What?"

Jaune shook his head at the unfairness of it all before he refocused on his surroundings and searched until he found the illusionist' weapon where he threw it. He picked that up carefully by the barrel until he found how to collapsed the blade. "Let's go get our luggage and get home."

When the two finally stepped out of the building they realized they were miles away from the airport. It was already dark as the sky had taken to full evening. But Jaune was thinking about what they had just encountered and what Ozpin would have to say. _At least I no longer feel sick._

"How did you know it was an illusion?"

Jaune realized his focus was slipping when it took him a moment to recognize what Amber asked. He gestured to the skyline. "The sun. It was still hours away when we got off the ship. But when we went inside what we thought was the office, the sun was already setting."

Amber looked at the sky and rubbed her neck with such a carefree gesture Jaune would have wondered how she could be so calm. "We must have been under the girls' influence for hours to bring us here with no one stopping us." Jaune caught her looking at the building. While she did not show it, Jaune had a distinct impression she was more shaken from the attack than she let on. "Going back to Beacon sounds really good right now."

Jaune opened his scroll and ignored the sudden influx of messages as his scroll connected to the local network. He dialed his boss and nearly shook his head as Ozpin answered immediately. "Ozpin? Can you send a bullhead to the airport in Vale? We were attacked. I rather we are picked up by a bullhead we can trust."

After several questions about their safety, they had been informed a ship would arrive within the hour. Before he put away his scroll, Jaune pointed it to the address number of the building and took several more pictures of the entrance and walked back in for a few more. Amber impatiently waited while she looked around the empty street. The street lamps were on, but they were far and few between the many buildings that framed the road. Finally, Jaune closed the scroll with a click before he looked at the two weapons he recovered. One from the illusionist and the other from the archer. "I'll be conducting an investigation after this. And I may need Qrow's help identifying these weapons."

Amber seemed to have gotten some energy back. Her voice couldn't hide her interest. "You'll be seeing Qrow?"

"I will now. I need him to come to Beacon. I don't want to drag these weapons anywhere I don't need to."

Amber looked at the empty street and started walking. Jaune followed as he understood her sudden interest. Amber eagerly added, "Let me know when he comes in. I would love to see him again."

Jaune couldn't help but smile at the sudden change in demeanor. He grunted his agreement. Amber was much more relaxed with the promise of meeting Qrow again. Jaune let her have her moment to decompress, but he never took his eyes off his surroundings. His eyes were moving in a tireless search for threats all the way back to the airport.

-o-

Jaune wanted to just sleep but he still stood in front of Ozpin. The headmaster was curiously inspecting the weapons. "You are right. You will need to see Qrow about these. I'll send a request to see if he can come in tomorrow afternoon." Ozpin turned to Amber. "I daresay you would like to see your companion again."

Amber nodded happily. She seemed so much more relaxed now that she was in Beacon. Maybe Jaune wasn't the only one that was tense the entire trip.

"I am concerned for how they found us sir." Jaune pointed out. "They were waiting for us. And the only ones we contacted were you, and a friend of mine that is a student. I did not divulge where I was to them."

Ozpin sat back in his chair and sighed. "I had thought about it since you told me of your attack. Each possibility does not look good for us."

"How so Ozpin?" Amber shuffled her feet nervously.

"The people who targeted you had done so by one of several ways. They either intercepted the CCT communications, tracked you by your unique aura, knew about Jaune and tried to intercept, or one of a very few people I told of the matter divulged the information to your enemies."

Amber gasped slightly. She took a seat and leaned forward. Her hands clasped in front of her and Jaune couldn't see her face with her hair covering her eyes.

Jaune decided now would be a good time to chip in his two cents and added for Amber's benefit. "We can rule out tracking by aura. If they were doing that from the start, they would never have been in Vale asking for you." He gave the older woman a comforting pat on the shoulder. He tilted his head to Ozpin and added, "If they were tracking me, there were plenty of places they could have attacked us on the way here. And they would have to find some way to follow me. I have no aura and I move fast when I am on my own. Had they followed me to a town, they would have been left behind as soon as I went to a new settlement. They would not have known we were on a ship to Vale if that were the case."

Amber's shoulders relaxed slightly. When she looked up, her eyes were stressed but hopeful. "But they knew."

Jaune nodded with a reluctant. "But they knew."

"Which leaves the last two options." Amber and Jaune turned back to the headmaster. "If they had intercepted the CCT communication, they could have set up that plan to intercept you when you arrived in Vale. That means our CCT security is compromised. I would need to speak to Atlas to bring technicians to investigate. That is something I will now do regardless. The other option concerns me greatly. I had updated several of my most trusted allies regarding your whereabouts in preparation to move your relic to a new home. One of those could have given the information to Salem or her informants."

Jaune frowned. "Anyone we can narrow it down to?"

Ozpin looked at his coffee mug sadly and sighed. "Yes."

-o-

Jaune didn't even want to shower now that a bed was calling him. He knew that wasn't an option yet. Jaune took off his hoodie and threw it on the kitchen table. It would need to be washed with the blood stains that would hopefully come off with several good washings. The doctor made sure nothing was serious and pushed him out of Beacon Infimary with a bandaged ear and pain kills that would not thin his blood. The bandage couldn't get wet and it was almost enough to skip the shower and sleep.

Jaune stretched and any thoughts of a bed were killed as he smelled himself. He grunted as he turned on his terminal and set his scroll next to it. He was not happy with the information he collected with Amber's assailants. There was still too little information to set up a profile. He scrolled through the information he built while they had flown back to Beacon. Eventually, he knew he should stop. His eyes were sore and his vision doubled under drowsy eyes.

Jaune looked at his scroll and smiled at the new message that popped through. It was from Coco. He gave the message a cursory glance. She wanted to know if he was back yet. They had a mission soon and wanted to get some training in. Team CFVY only had the morning leave for training. Jaune smiled at his scroll and replied he would be available tomorrow morning.

Jaune ignored the return bleep moments later as he stripped and finally got into the shower. The hot water was like heaven to his sweat-soaked hair.

-o-

Jaune smiled at Qrow as he walked into the office. "Good morning Qrow."

The older man smiled as he raised the tip of his canteen. Jaune could smell the alcohol from across the room. He raised an eyebrow at it.

Qrow tilted his head as he took a drink. "I figured I needed it today."

"Why?" Jaune looked over to Ozpin before another ding of the elevator announced another person. Jaune waved a good morning to Amber before she walked past him and wrapped her arms around Qrow.

Qrow sighed and let himself be swayed back and forth. "Qrow! I missed you!" Amber smiled and laughed into his chest.

The older man quietly murmured something and returned the gesture."It's good to see you safe and sound Amber."

Jaune let the two have a moment while he walked around to Ozpin. "Has he already looked at the weapons?"

Ozpin nodded but it was Qrow who answered around Amber's shoulder. "I have-"

Amber reluctantly let go of the older man as the four of them took seats around Ozpin's desk. Qrow took a sip from his canteen and put it away. "And they are real antiques. The sickle is a Valian weapon that ran out of fashion nearly twenty years ago. The ones you recovered were reconditioned. I will need to discuss with a few people in Vale if anyone has seen this set before. Something like that will stick with a person. The second weapon is actually what concerns me." Qrow pointedly looked over to Ozpin.

"The dual wield weapon is an artifact from the last war. In particular, it is Mistrals' military design. It is not proof, but it does give me a good place to start in regards to our leak. I called both Jaune and Amber here to discuss our plans and how we may be able to confirm who our leak is."

Jaune looked over the weapons that were set on the desk. "You think our leak is from Mistral?"

Ozpin nodded. "It's all circumstantial at this point. If we go under the assumption it was a leak, I only spoke of Amber's movements to three people and one of them works in Mistral."

Jaune frowned. "And out of my jurisdiction for an arrest."

"And also high in the chain of command. He was- is a friend. Leonardo Lionhart. He is the headmaster of Haven Academy." Jaune hissed at the information. Ozpin continued, "No, if we do confirm that Leo is the leak, the most we could do is arm ourselves with the knowledge that we know the identity of one of our enemies." Ozpin gave Amber an apologetic look from over his glasses.

Amber sighed but nodded.

"So how do we confirm this?" Jaune asked as he crossed his arms and leaned back against the chair. Small good it would do to be a patrolman but still bound to the country.

"Jaune, I believe it is too early to inform you of this, but your past encounter will no doubt drawn their attention to you. They likely know who you are already."

Jaune nodded. "I figured that would happen. If it isn't one group it would have been another eventually." Jaune immediately thought of the group Neo worked with. He was happy nothing untoward happened yet, but he was told by quite a few people from Koben to Avery, that he would eventually draw unwanted attention. He just needed to be prepared for it.

"The person we oppose is named Salem. She is very old being that has tried to influence humans for a very long time. I can confirm that much based on Amber's description of the glove."

Amber added. "I was sure of the triangle symbol on it and it was a insect-like head that started to crawl out of the glove."

Ozpin tapped his desk with his fingers tips in a single long drum. "I am familiar with that kind of grim. Instead of attacking the body, that grim attacks the latent aura of its victim. It was likely they found a way to steal your powers with that grim."

Amber shuddered. Qrow quickly placed an arm around her. He ignored her surprised look as he stared at the weapons. "I take it you want me to take a trip to Mistral then?"

Ozpin took out his scroll and opened his last list of messages. "Yes Qrow, I would like you to observe him to see if he reaches out to Salem. If we can get our confirmation I want you to pull out."

Qrow nodded at the same time as Amber frowned. Qrow ignored her mumbled, "But I just got to see you."

Jaune hmm'ed to himself. "You are placing a lot of faith in waiting for something to happen. How about we force his hand?"

Ozpin looked at the teen amused. "What do you propose?"

Jaune tilted his head as he thought of his past few cases back in Anvil. "Well, if I wanted to get a thief to come out to the open to confirm their identity or find an accomplice, I would need to give them an incentive to react while we were observing them. Let's get Qrow in a position where he can observe while we feed the guy information. If he acts on it, we got our confirmation. If he doesn't and we follow through with the information we leaked and this Salem still reacts, we then can confirm it was not him. Oh!"

Jaune pulled out his scroll and pulled up several pictures. "This is what all three of them looked like. Well, the silver haired kid's picture is a little blurry. But it should help you spot them at a glance Qrow. If they are getting support in Mistral then they might be who this Leo-guy is talking to."

Qrow whistled. "You took these in the middle of a fight?"

Jaune gave a reproachful laugh. "Remember Neo? How much easier do you think my search for her would have been had I taken her picture?"

Qrow shook his head. "The way you described it, had you taken her picture, she probably would have killed you."

Jaune did not respond to that one. Qrow was probably right. Instead, "We have both Amber and the relic, that gives us two tries to confirm it."

Ozpin's eyes relaxed when he thought about the suggestion. "What do you think Amber?"

Amber sighed and leaned into Qrow's arm. "I agree. We should find out how they found me. I only moved around for a peace of mind. But after being safe for so long, something must have had happened. If Salem is moving, it's not just me, it will be all of us girls that will be in danger."

Jaune looked over to her, "Us girls?"

Ozpin exhaled an amused sigh at Amber's slip. She gave a sheepish shrug not the least bit sorry. "There are four girls including Amber with her kind of abilities. They can only ever be four in the world. If one of them dies, the powers they possess move on to a new host. I believe that Salem had found the means to harness those powers without endangering herself."

Jaune pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'll ask about it later. Let's focus on the issue at hand."

Ozpin scrolled through his menu until he pulled up a screen. "Qrow, with the semester closing, can you make arrangements to be in Mistral for the next week?"

"Consider it done Oz."

Jaune scratched his head and he did not like what he was about to suggest. "Do you think they would go after the relic now?" He silently hoped that would be the case.

Ozpin shook his head. "It is useless without the Maiden. If we used the information of the relic they may try and make an effort to intercept it, but there is no guarantee. Salem may have a way to measure the energy they give off as well. We would need to use the real relic, not a decoy."

Amber grunted and leaned forward. Qrow felt his arm slide off her shoulders and he used his hand to rub her back. Amber sighed in appreciation before she looked at Ozpin. "That means I need to be the bait. Can we get a few more people we can trust with this?"

Ozpin was about to answer, but Qrow beat him to it. "I have a few friends in Mistral that can help. I would rather we have people who are still unknowns." Qrow, who had been quiet and absently rubbed Amber's back, stopped. "That means I need to get Tai. What kind of information are you going to pass on to Leonardo?"

Ozpin looked to Jaune. Jaune blinked as he realized the headmaster was allowing him room to plan. "Like Amber told me a little while ago, Beacon should divest itself of anything that may threaten the school. She needs to be moved and hidden off the continent. Let Leonardo know that Amber along with a few people will be taking her through Mistral to an undisclosed location. We were attacked at a port so ask him if he can help us bypass security to get out of the town faster. I just need to find the ideal port where we can leave and still be in a defensible position if we were attacked."

Qrow and Amber shared a glance before they looked over to Ozpin who had sipped his afternoon coffee. The headmaster's baritone voice offered. "I can arrange the date and time for the arrival in a port and request Leo to expedite your screening to let you move out of town as quickly as possible."

Jaune gave Ozpin and Amber a satisfied smile. Jaune felt relieved that Ozpin liked his idea. He started to make a list of what he wanted in a travel path when he asked, "So! Who's Tai?"

-o-

Tai, as it turns out, was Qrows old partner from his academy days. His team had stayed together for a very short time after graduating. _By the sounds of it, it was a very short time._ Jaune thought grimly. It was not a story Qrow sounded enthusiastic to tell, and Jaune did not ask. Qrow had got the confirmation Tai was on board for the trip then promptly left to Mistral.

"Amber!" Jaune stood next to the woman as the blonde older man in khaki cargo shorts and an orange shirt walked out of the elevator. The two laughed and gave each other a long hug and hard pat on the back. "Qrow said you had some trouble. It's good to see you safe."

Amber immediately waved off the concern while the two caught up. Jaune looked over to Ozpin who simply sipped his cup. It looked like the two would talk for a while. Jaune simply moved to lean against the headmaster's desk and waited for the two to finish so they could start. "Would it be rude to interrupt them?"

"It would not. Excuse me Tai but we should get you briefed of the situation."

Tai finally took notice of Jaune and gave him a skeptical look. "With a student?"

Jaune looked up while Amber repressed a smile. Ozpin came to his defense. "This is Jaune, the patrolman for Beacon. He was the one who escorted Amber safely back to Beacon."

Tai clammed up. "Sorry. You just looked young." He quickly apologized.

"I am." Jaune said with all the patience he could muster. He moved to sit down in a chair. Jaune still did not trust himself to say anymore. It was not until these last few months that Jaune realized if there was one thing that bothered him, it was being disregarded. Nothing else seemed to anger him as quickly as blatantly being ignored and discounted. He had no clue when it started but damn did he feel it the last year or so.

The meeting was brief. It was more for Tai and Jaune to talk to each other before any kind of sting operation may start. If Jaune was honest, he felt out of sorts with the whole conversation. Tai had not spoken to him much outside of the initial confusion and instead caught up with Amber who simply blushed when he teased her about Qrow.

As more of an excuse to himself than to actually add more work to his load, he volunteered to look into the scythe weapons' history in Vale. Ozpin bid him a good day. Jaune ignored the look the headmaster gave both Jaune and Tai. Something told Jaune that the older man was annoyed with both of them.

-o-

Jaune knew he messed up when he answered his scroll with the video on. Coco stared at him. It took him half a beat to realize she could see the bandaged ear. Jaune knew he couldn't hide it now and just grimaced as Coco continued to stare at him and his muffled greeting. When he explained he couldn't go see CFVY today due to an investigation, she just grinned.

"Really? You're going into Vale? Well I am glad you invited me! I'll be at the bullheads in twenty minutes."

The screen went blank and Jaune just sighed at the scroll. It was really turning into one of those days. But as much as he had misgivings about how his day would turn out, Coco did her best to break those expectations.

Jaune could feel her eyes on him and the questions she wanted answered. Instead, Coco did her best to distract the both of them as they flew into Vale.

"You said you were going to Vale when I called you. When you asked if I wanted to come along, I thought you were thinking of catching a movie or a bite to eat." Jaune laughed at Coco as she raised her hand to shade her eyes from the sun. She had come so quickly she had forgone the usual shades and beret and walked next to him in a simple blue and gray top and soft gray capris.

"I hardly invited you. I even warned you I was working." He lifted the blue jersey he wore to signify he was in Vale as a patrolman.

Coco crossed her arms and nearly pouted as she looked at the street and a car that honked at something. "As if you had a choice that said I was not coming. Well, to be honest when I called, I only heard you and Vale and an excuse not to train." She added a wink to him for good measure.

Jaune snorted before he offered his hand to her, "Oh, did my dear wench find the rigors of mortal combat too strenuous for her delicate hands?"

Coco fanned herself with her hand and batted her eyelashes at him, "I do believe I have suffered the vapors. Would you please this wench with a brief respite and the pleasure of your company?"

It took the pair a moment before they lost character and just laughed. It was not much longer when Jaune stopped in front of an antique store. "Ok Coco. Serious face. It's bad enough I look like I am still a student at Signal." Coco dropped the smile, but Jaune could feel the teasing look as she nodded solemnly.

Jaune greeted the woman at the counter, "Good morning, I am here to speak with Thos."

"Ah, you must be Mr. Arc. Please this way. Thos should be in the back." Jaune smiled and followed. Her accent was one he had never heard before. The long cloth that wrapped around her shoulder to her waist signified she and likely her husband had traveled far to come to Vale. It must have been hard to keep their culture and not be swallowed up by Vale given how Qrow had said they had been in Vale since _he_ was in the academy.

"Mr. Arc." Thos greeted Jaune.

The man was a short man with thin wire frame glasses. He was a deeply tanned man with wrinkles that crossed his face in a smile. "Thank you for seeing me Thos. Qrow had a prior arrangement and I had resumed where he left off. Here is the weapon we wanted you to look at."

The scythe weapon was set on the table. Already Thos shook his head. "I have not serviced this one, and I can tell it wasn't serviced in any place in Vale. The smell of the oil gives it away. It's something that is not found in Vale. It's too expensive to be imported."

Jaune bit his lip and ventured, "Is it an oil native to Mistral?"

"You know your oils Mr. Arc. Yes. It is a high class one. This one and its partner must have been through a lot of war to have been restored to this degree, see the handle? That is completely new. I have the parts myself, but like the oil they are not native to Vale. The wood is not oak or maple. It's more of a kind of hardened pine that is not from around the region. The grain is all wrong for anything else."

"Thanks for confirming that for us. Anything else you can surmise from the weapon's condition?"

Thos looked over the scythe as it moved to its gun mode. "It was likely recovered in the field in gun mode. Even after the paint job, there are still faint lines along the barrel as the metal discolored. It was restored in Mistral with top dollar. I would say it was built to be gifted in good faith. No one else who would want to use it would spend so much money to restore something this old unless they were a collector."

Jaune nodded. "And it was being used, not hanging on a wall. Thank you Thos."

"Any time Mr. Arc. If you need anything else, please feel free to stop by. And give Qrow my best regards."

Jaune smiled, and placed the weapon in his sling over backpack. "I will. Thank you."

Jaune walked out the back to see Coco chuckle at something she held in her hand. She brought it close to her face to see the details. "Find something Coco?" Jaune asked. He remembered she had wanted to collect souvenir on various missions. He didn't think she would start looking for one in Vale.

Coco stared at the small trinket as it spun in a delicate figure eight on the platform the size of her palm. "It's nice but I am not sure." Jaune looked at it and realized it was a couple as they danced on a stage.

There was a lot of detail and the base looked brand new compared to the actual dancers. After the metallic chimes of the tune slowed to a stop the dancers stopped as well. Jaune looked at the price and realized why Coco looked at the trinket in mourning. _That price. Yikes._

Coco gave it back and thanked the woman. Coco sighed as she led the way out.

Jaune looked over his shoulder at the trinket and asked, "What's the song that it plays?"

The woman smiled, "A Love's Eve in Winter."

Jaune repeated the name in his head and thanked her. He quickly followed Coco and paused when she stopped and stretched. Jaune caught himself staring and shook his head and ignored the smile that formed on his face when he walked around her.

Coco was oblivious to any of Jaune's thoughts and drawn out the word, "Well… I still got time if you want to do something Jaune."

Jaune sighed with a barely repressed smile and took her by the arm. "Come on, I got a place I know that serves a good brunch."

Coco focused on his bandaged ear. "Are you finally going to tell me a bit about your last trip?"

Jaune smiled at the hopeful tone to her voice. He closed his eyes as he really thought of what he signed up for. It wasn't anything like he expected. He had known he would involve himself with criminal rings and travel far and wide to investigate crime scenes. But the things Amber did? The thing called Salem. Those other people that seemed to work with that grim if the glove was any indication. That felt like it was above what he was ready for.

But the alternative was something Jaune would never allow so long as he could help it. If he could help one more person, potentially save a life just by being here... Jaune knew he couldn't walk away. He felt an odd sense of calmness when he thought about it.

Jaune recognized it when he realized that being a patrolman was something he wanted to do for the rest of his life. When he told Barty that being a patrolman was his calling Jaune felt that certainty and peace. Somehow being here, helping Amber and Ozpin with whatever they need. It felt right and it gave him a peace of mind he felt he had no right to have. Ozpin hired him for a reason. Jaune just hoped his intuition was right. He pushed aside the questions he had for the headmaster in the interest of focusing on finding Amber's attackers and the security leak. His questions and doubts were still there. But right now they were not important. If finding the leak would help secure Beacon and Vale, and keep those who would harm Amber for her powers, he was going to do his job.

Jaune was snapped from his thoughts when he felt the weight of Coco's arm against his side.

"Some of it," Jaune answered when Coco tugged at his arm when her curiosity overrode her patience. He wondered what kind of inquisition he had willingly walked into. In his mind, he already began to edit out some of the more sensitive details. To distract her from the things she could not learn, Jaune offered, "I found a nice town that sits in the ocean you may like to visit sometime."

Coco's eyes lit up, "Oh?"

A/N:

I finally got around to editing this one. The next story stalled a little and I had to go back to this story while working on the next one. I think I got what I needed to finish the next one. We'll see if there is another long gap. Maybe December for the next story.


	5. Chapter 5 Ruminations

A Jaune turned the tuning peg as the note pitched. That got some laughs from the students as they walked by. Jaune strummed his guitar once before he started to play a small upbeat tune.

 _The night's so cold…_

 _The hearth goes dark…_

 _Your hand touched mine,_

 _My only spark,_

 _You are my only warmth_

 _In this closed off winter..._

This morning Juane sang on the statue's base that led out to the courtyard of Beacon Academy. Below him the students waved as they walked by with their luggage. A few of the more playful students danced as they marched to their Bullheads to leave for the summer. Jaune winked at a team he had seen in the forest a few times on his morning runs. They thanked him for the song as they passed.

 _A smile, a laugh,_

 _The time it flies_

 _The fire burns red_

 _And then it dies_

 _Our love and bond_

 _Will never thaw_

 _When a summer comes_

 _to an ending winter._

Jaune would almost miss the busy thrum of students inside Beacon Academy. But it would only be a brief seven weeks before they returned and another two more before the new students will shuffle after them. The graduation of the current class was just last week and those students were long gone with their assignments out in the real world.

 _My heart, your beat,_

 _one in the same…_

 _My hand in yours_

 _will never wane_

 _From morning sun_

 _To evening dusk_

 _I'll never feel cold_

 _From your touch_

When Jaune took the job as a patrolman for Beacon, he did not really expect to have the interaction with the students at all bar Coco and her team CFVY. But Professor Ozpin decided he was too valuable of a resource and had the patrolman share some experiences of his time out in the frontier as well as describe how his home settlement functioned. For the seniors, it was an invaluable education. Many of them were destined for frontier lines themselves.

 _I'll treasure you_

 _Keep you safe in my arms_

 _And love you_

 _My home's where you are_

 _In this endless home in winter_

A few passers by whistled as the song ended with the tune of his guitar. Jaune stringed through song as he wondered at the lyrics.

"Stable Boy!" Someone sang to get his attention.

Jaune slapped the strings to his guitar to stop the song. After a moment to sigh, he moved them again. He turned slightly as Coco jumped up to the statue base and sat next to him. "Good morning Wench. Here for a song?" Jaune changed the tune at the suggestion to a slow swing tune before he reverted back to his cheerful beat. His grin was contagious.

Coco smiled and gently shoved his shoulder. "You're just showing off now. No, my team and I are finally heading out for break with the next wave. I just wanted to say goodbye."

Jaune stopped and set the guitar down. "I'll miss you guys. You are all going to Velvet's village?"

Coco nodded. "Yeah, I'll be back in Vale in a few days though. I have to work during the break if I want to have my petty cash for souvenirs."

Jaune smiled as the two of them jumped down. Coco opened her arms and waved her hands. Jaune laughed as he hugged his friend. She was barely taller than him in her heels. It was something she still lords over him now that he thought of it. Jaune felt the hug was too brief even as he knew they had embraced each other for longer than what should have been appropriate for friends.

"Send me a message when you get back into Vale. I'll be really bored up here by myself."

Coco smirked. "I am sure the Doctor O' will have something for you to do."

Jaune grimaced. It wasn't Barty he was worried about.

"Arc! Say goodbye to your girlfriend already, we got the call." Amber called across the courtyard as she walked up to the pair. A few of the students looked at the two's embrace and grinned at what would no doubt be some kind of gossip. Coco and Jaune shared a glanced before they stood apart.

Jaune puffed out an annoyed breath at Amber's tease. "I've got to go now too. I'm sorry to cut this short Coco."

Coco shook her head as she grabbed his guitar for him. "Hi Amber! Keep him out of trouble for me?"

Amber gave the student a careless shrug. Coco smiled and looked back to Jaune. "I'll let you know as soon as I get back into town Jaune. Don't have too much fun while I'm gone."

Jaune watched her go for a few moments. Amber giggled right behind him. "Qrow tended to watch me go too. Be careful, one time she might turn around to catch you. Come on, they are waiting for us."

Jaune sighed as he picked up his guitar case and threw it over his shoulder, "Did you have to call her my girlfriend?"

"Does she, or does she not still call you her stable boy?"

Jaune coughed and looked up to the sky. Amber smirked at him. "I rest my case. Just ask her out already. You two are practically dating as is."

Jaune exhaled a slight groan. "You are starting to sound like Qrow. Just because we like to spend time together doesn't mean we would work. Not to mention I still haven't talked to Ozpin about dating a student when I am effectively staff of the Academy."

Amber didn't see the problem. The worse Ozpin could do was reprimand him. As soon as Jaune knew about the maidens, he was effectively 'in'. Ozpin couldn't afford to have him leave now. "You should just try. At least one of us would be making progress." Amber muttered to herself.

Jaune looked over to her as the elevator to the headmaster's office closed behind them. "You do know he isn't even here."

Amber gave a nearly defeated grunt. "He's ignoring my messages. He reads them. I get the confirmation alert, he just doesn't reply."

Jaune sighed as the elevator lurched upwards.

Amber smirked as she asked, "When are you finally going to sing her the song?"

Jaune just stared at the elevator door willing it to get to the top floor.

"Jaune, you been practicing it all week. Just do it already, the summer is the perfect time."

Jaune muttered, "It is a winter song…"

Amber laughed and rested her hands on her hips, "You are not waiting till winter!"

The elevator opened to a view of the headmaster. Ozpin sat with two screen terminals opened on his desk. Jaune thought that Ozpin needed some rest. The man looked exhausted.

"Sir." Jaune greeted. Ozpin looked up and took of his glasses to rub his eyes. Jaune exchanged looks with Amber before he asked, "Qrow found something?"

Ozpin put on his glasses but that did nothing to hide the rings under his eyes, "Yes… He has. Leo has sent out a communication after being alerted of our impending movements. It was on a closed connection so we are not aware who he spoke to, or even if it was about us. But the fact he did it immediately after I spoke with him over the closed CCT is incredibly damning."

Jaune gave his boss a sympathetic look. Ozpin had confessed that Leonardo had been a long time friend. "That doesn't incriminate him. We'll see what happens on this escort."

Amber shuffled nervously. It would be the first time in a long while that she knowingly exposed herself to danger. The two weeks of fruitless practice with her fire did not build any confidence either. Using nature to move things in a straight line? Sure. But if she had to do anything more complicated, she was still better off using aura instead. "So what's the plan?"

-o-

Jaune gave Tai a look that conveyed all the disdain he could muster. When Jaune first heard of the man, Qrow had said that Tai was his former teammate and friend. He was a guy you could count on.

Jaune's second impression happened a few weeks ago when the man dutifully ignored Jaune when they met at Ozpin's office. After all, the kid was probably serving a detention right? Never mind the school year ended...

Now Jaune stared at the man who seemed to give a contrite apology. Amber fidgeted back and forth unsure what she should do. Jaune just sighed and walked by them both. "Let's get going. We'll be on the ship for a few days so it's fine Tai."

Jaune walked by and lamented the fact he was so young. Again it seemed to be the crux of the problem. When Tai first met Jaune, he just thought Jaune was a student, some kid who just happened to be in the room. It led the man with all his good intentions to make Jaune's job as a patrolman that much harder on this excursion.

Jaune frown and amended that thought. To be fair, it seemed his age has always been an issue. Even as a young idiot when he started to train to become a patrolman. There was a reason he was not back at his home settlement Anvil. Jaune walked into his cabin on the ship and looked around quickly before he set down a little box. The device was something that he picked up from the Vale Police Department. Avery had used one like it during their meetings when he was searching for someone who had been rummaging through the port years ago. The little device had always stuck in Jaune's mind.

Jaune was just happy he could get one. He clicked on the box and it released a slight whine before the sound naturally faded with the creaking sounds of the ship. Jaune wished that they could have taken an airship, but that would be counterproductive. Cross continental air ships were regulated and used primarily by the military. Jaune needed the group to stay out in the open and available for any public access for the sting operation. Hence the jammer. Jaune looked at the little black box and seemed satisfied that it held out the jamming signal long enough for him to open his scroll. The patrolman quickly opened the letter from Ozpin.

With the request for help to ease the transport, Leonardo Lionheart was the only one who knew the details for their trip. Even Qrow's other friends were in the dark on exactly where they were going or who they were. _Qrow must have some good friends to just follow when he asked._

Qrow had confirmed that the headmaster had contacted someone immediately after speaking with Ozpin. That meant it was up to Jaune, Amber and Tai Yang to be the bait to confirm that Leo was the leak. Jaune looked over the letter and confirmed the secondary objective. While they could not legally arrest anyone themselves, Qrow had confirmed that there was a police officer in his group who would be observing the escort.

Jaune was happy to have heard that he had back up. It was just unfortunate he did not know how fast they would be able to respond. It was a danger with working with people that he did not know. He had to keep in mind that none of the huntsmen were patrolman. What they considered fast may be vastly different than what he would think if it was a group of patrolman.

Jaune reread the letter and groaned at some of the instructions. When Ozpin had left a majority of the planning to him, Ozpin requested that Jaune should to take in advice from the group. One of those ideas, and the source of Jaune's irritation with Tai, was the other blonde's suggestion.

" _Why don't we have Jaune here stay out in the open as a patrolman to help us move along in the port."_

Jaune ground his teeth as Ozpin agreed. Jaune looked down and glared at his jersey. It was such a stupid idea. Jaune had argued why it was a bad idea. When Ozpin seemed to disagree he still gave the patrolman the time to explain himself. Jaune snapped the scroll close with an angry loud clack.

Jaune thought of the reasons and there were a few that were important. For one, revealing himself with the jersey told everyone that he had no aura. That could be detrimental if someone attacked the group. Jaune had no aura to protect himself and he would have a very large bullseye on his back with that jersey in the name of helping save a little time. Anyone with a long range ability would know to take him out first. Jaune scowled at the total lack of forethought. But he was more frustrated with the headmaster for agreeing with it.

Jaune exhaled out the anger and just nodded at Ozpin's reasons. While Tai suggested it to allow them to leave the port a little quicker, the headmaster had better reasons. The biggest was eliminating the possibility that anyone else beside our potential assailants would attack the group. It was pointless to do all this and only trip up when some group of morons decided that two skinny guys and a girl would be easy to rob. Yes he put Tai into that group too. The man may be old and experienced, but one glance showed how little training the blonde man had in the last ten years.

Jaune supposed that teaching would do that to a teacher like Qrow and Tai. But that left little comfort to exposing himself to danger without trained back up ready to aid the group.

Jaune sighed as the floor lurched. He simply closed his eyes and practice to breathe. No point in getting seasick on top of being annoyed.

-o-

Qrow looked over to the group. It had been a while since he had seen any of them. But he was thankful they had volunteered. "Ozpin made it a little easier for us. Just keep track of the Patrolman's jersey. There are not that many of them around here." Qrow pointed at the map and route fifteen. "Shiro you good?"

Shiro smiled around coffee stained teeth. "Please Qrow. We got this. They should be coming off the docks soon right?"

Qrow nodded. He looked around to the group of five. They had all been a part of various teams when he had helped Raven here in Mistral before she decided to leave Vale completely behind. "We'll see you guys at the end of the route."

"Later Qrow, don't get too tired in the air."

"I'm not _that_ old." Qrow knelt down before his body turned into a crow. With a parting caw, he took to the air.

-o-

Jaune tightened the knuckle capped gloves and checked his gear. When he was satisfied that his jersey was tight around his torso, he led the three with purpose to a side exit. A sailor with three security guards greeted the trio as they made their way across the deck to the side entrance. The ramp would feed into a private check out used for VIP's. Jaune thanked the crew as Amber started to move through check out. Tai, much to Jaune's annoyance, had gone ahead and was already on the other side with his travel pack. Jaune had informed Tai and Amber in the morning that they would travel out of town and travel down a side road south west until they reached Bramble. The village would be their check in point to finally meet up with Qrow.

Jaune gave the the security clerk a tight smile and walked after Amber and Tai.

At least that was the story Ozpin had told Leo. Qrow was already outside of Port Strands and his group would shadow a fair distance away and follow. Qrow did not specify how, but he had stated he would also scout ahead of their group. Jaune was curious how the older man would pull that off. Of course Qrow knew their intended path. But communications were going to be severely limited once they left the port. _I really want to ask how he pulls that off…._ Jaune thought to himself as he slung the single band backpack over his shoulder where it nearly bunched up his jersey.

The group left the town. There was no signs of any traveler on the road for the first several hours but it did little to settle Jaune. Amber and Tai looked more relaxed. He was thankful that someone was. But that could be more to the fact that they could handle grim more than thinking of the job they had been assigned. Jaune felt the anxiousness gnaw at him.

"I'm sure Qrow will come around Amber." Tai offered with hope.

Jaune smiled at the idea of Tai being Amber's wingman. The story seemed way more complicated than any relationship Jaune thought he had with Coco. Amber was apprenticed under Qrow years ago rather than being on a team in Beacon. What may have once been hero worship was now full blown love. Jaune shook his head at the story the way Amber explained it. There was a very brief moment where it was reciprocated. But by then, Amber was the maiden and forced to always be on the move. The two had not spoken to each other in years since.

Jaune spared a glance at the caravan that was moving towards the port. They had been in view for the last forty minutes but were now just close enough to make out fine details. A group of seven people with four huntsmen on a passenger carriage. Jaune moved forward and waved at them. The driver waved back and relaxed when he realized what Jaune was.

Jaune sighed in annoyance at Tai when the jersey gave the other coachman their instant trust. Jaune motioned the three of them to get off the road and the carriage driver thanked them as they passed. Jaune did not relax until they were over two miles away. On this level of flat land it was nice to see so far ahead. It was one of the reasons Jaune chose that port in particular.

The group had another day to go by foot. The group had covered winding hills, flat lands and some forest before the road opened to more flat lands. They had been moving along at a decent speed for huntsmen but Jaune could feel Amber and Tai needed to break every so often. It was during one of these breaks that Tai had knelt next to the river as it bent closest to the road.

Jaune was perfectly happy with seeing the two catch up and listened in occasionally when they had talked about Tai's family. Apparently the older man had two girls and one was his age. Jaune could almost forgive Tai for thinking he was a student.

There was a caw far above them.

"He's here." Amber muttered relieved.

Jaune was not privy to what the signal meant, but both Tai and Amber seemed more assured at the signal. "I take it I probably should have been informed of that?"

Amber looked embarrassed when she realized Jaune did not know what the bird meant. Jaune interrupted her before she could explain. "Wait till we get you home safely. I can wait and we don't know who's listening."

Amber huffed at the teens paranoia as they started to break for camp.

Tai seemed to agree with the young man and said nothing about it as he unrolled his blanket. They would need to make camp for the night and Jaune looked around and saw little in the way to be used for a campfire.

Amber dug out a small hole and heated the rocks and added dry grass to the makeshift pit. When the grass caught fire, the fire flickered and stabilized off of seemingly nothing. She raised a finger to her lips at Jaune's unasked question.

Jaune rolled his eyes and just went with it.

The next morning Jaune felt the lack of sleep more than he thought he should had. He has worked on days with less sleep, but the assignment made him uncomfortable. The lack of information forced him to raise his concentration and it piled up over the trip on the ship and the first days travel. Today, they would reach a settlement by late evening and walk towards several rolling hills that fed into the ocean before they would start to move through the scablands of the west tomorrow. If anyone was looking for cover to attack them, it would need to be there where there would be no scroll connectivity.

Mistral was far ahead of Vale in terms of their network and most places had access to the CCT network in Mistral. Jaune was thankful for the information. If someone was familiar with Mistral and planned to ambush them, Jaune could comfortably narrow down the places they may be attacked. He did not rule out the possibility they could come by air ship. But it would have been a red flag that Leonardo Lionhart or Mistral government was involved.

Jaune wished he could have had some communication with Qrow or Ozpin about any updates.

-o-

Shiro walked ahead of the group and did his best to ignore Carmina's bobbed head bounce behind him. She looked to be the first to tire and he knew she was going to ask for a break soon. Shiro was happy at the pace they made on their way down the mountain. They needed to get into a better position when the escort made their way around the next two bends. Even with the road taking so many detours and zigzags around the hills, Carmina had always hated the pace Shiro made for them.

Carmina glanced over to Shiro's bristled black head and asked, "Can we take a break?"

Shiro looked over his shoulder to laugh at her. She glared at him. Shiro vaguely noticed the change in the shadow of the woods before…

 _Schlp_

It took Shiro a moment to understand what happened. The splatter of blood against the trees were the only signs of where his friends once stood. Next to him Boyd screamed, "Carmina! Aoi!"

Shrio looked around the forest. Nothing broke through the woods. "Look for shadows." He ordered Boyd and Ivy. It was dim, but there was a blot of shadows that wove through the woods.

The trees swayed in unison as a gurgle escaped Boyd's mouth. His body disappeared not even a second later.

Shiro pulled his weapon as it moved into a sword. He found the shadow as it moved over the trees. Shiro heard Ivy grunt before he felt his jacket tugged. "Move!" Ivy shoved him against a tree. A loud crack of branches echoed in the forest. Shiro looked back to see another deep gouge in the earth.

Shiro bit back a cry as he jumped higher into the tree line canopy. What ever attacked them had just dove into the forest below him. The huntsman was displaced into the air as a gust sucked him higher. Shiro looked around wildly as he saw that the black mass of a grim took off into the air. It's agile body turned and its talon's wrapped around him with a hollow crunch.

-o-

Jaune tirelessly scanned the miles ahead. The main path ran across the top of a embankment that help prevent flooding of the river. Jaune grunted at the sight of the water, it was too small for ships to travel through, but the flooding during the spring months had apparently been a serious problem for the locals. Behind him, Amber was chuckling at something Tai had said.

A caw got both of Tai's and Ambers attention before it was cut off. Jaune looked up in time to hear the whistle of something in the air. "Move!"

The alarm forced both Tai and Amber to move away from each other. Jaune swore as the whistle turned out to be black arrows made of glass. They shattered at his feet and the shards sprayed into his bare arms. Another caw made the patrolman look up before he realized the next volley of arrows did not follow Tai or Amber. "Get off the road, and down the slope. It's targeting me. If you got a way to send a message to Qrow, get him."

Jaune resisted the instinctual decision to chase after the archer. That would leave them alone. Which he thought was probably the reason he was targeted. "Tai!" Jaune called when moments later a man ran towards them along the embankment.

Tai pushed Amber's shoulder low against the slope and looked around behind them to give Jaune free rein to look to the sky for arrows. Tai rotated his wrist and gripped his hand in preparation of a fight. "I see one man running down the road towards us. Amber behind me and down the slope. Give us cover fire. Look on our three o'clock there may be more."

Amber obeyed and pooled energy in her hands in small fire rings around her enclosed fists.

The man that ran down the road seemed to laugh and cheer as he finally made his way towards the group. Tai caught the attackers fist in his hands. The other man's fist were encased in gauntlets with two curved blades the extended past the man's knuckles.

"Well that was not expected." The man whimpered and squealed in endless glee. The man was slender with limp brown hair that tied back to a ponytail at the base of his neck. He added in a harsh savage voice, "But the best things are never free."

Tai struggled to keep the man's fist locked in his own. But the man twisted and elbowed Tai's stomach. The blow made Tai's body bend. The man raised a fist and his blades extended outward to stab Tai's prone back.

Jaune had dodged another three arrows and charged the attacker. Jaune let his body slide on the ground and his steel toed shoe snapped upwards to the back of the attackers knee. The man gave a surprised giddy whimper.

Jaune kicked his free leg directly upwards at the man's chin. The man laughed as he leaned back to dodge the kick. Jaune turned his torso while he laid on the ground and the upward kick rotated into an ax kick on the man's already off balanced body. The man gave an 'oof' from the impact on the ground. Jaune rolled to a stand as he kept his foot firmly on the man's chest then slid it up to the man's throat. The man tried to lift his leg to kick Jaune off.

Jaune saw the kick in his peripheral vision and leaned harder against the man's throat. Aura or not, he would feel the pressure. Jaune swung a pair of handcuffs and slapped one ring shut against the man's ankle. Jaune used the cuffs as leverage to pull the kick away.

Jaune noticed Tai jumped with a nod. Jaune called, "Amber, fire when you are ready."

Amber built up fire in her hand from her cover from the arrows. She understood how fast Jaune moved. Amber trusted Jaune would dodge it. Her hands extended and two balls of fire flew free to the man. Jaune watched the fireballs approach and kicked hard off the man's throat. The man's aura kicked in immediately to protect him. Jaune jumped and ran back a distance while he looked for in coming arrows.

He quickly glanced at the man as fire engulfed him. He squealed and roared in pain. "My ankle! It burns! Get it off!"

Tai looked at Jaune with a question. Shook his head, he would explain later.

The patrolman looked around. "We still have an archer to find-" Jaune was cut off as the man growled and rolled forward, his body still aflame. He spun his bad ankle and the glowing red pair of handcuffs around to kick Tai away from Amber. Tai groaned with the hit as he flailed in an uncontrolled tumble down the bank. Jaune immediately pulled Amber back and ran up to the man's fully extended leg. Jaune grunted from the sudden burns in his hands as he gripped the still free handcuff in his thick gloved hands. The patrolman twisted the rigid band like a lever against the man's' ankle. The burnt flesh from the super heated metal dug deep into the man's ankle again. He roared a painful cry before the man glared at Jaune then Amber.

Behind Jaune, Amber screamed in a painful cry as she gripped her stomach. Jaune looked back to the man's satisfied smirk before the thin man jerked his body. It caused Amber to cough and groan as black ickor soaked her torso. Jaune grabbed the loose handcuff and kicked the man down the edge dislodging what he found was a scorpion tail. The man started to laugh at the pair as he rolled down the steep hill. The man seemed too pleased with himself to stop laughing. Behind him, Jaune could hear Amber collapse to the ground.

-o-

Qrow rarely had moments where he felt he had lost complete control of the situation. When the arrows flew in the air and nearly killed Jaune outright, he felt this was one of those times. He only barely noticed from which direction the arrows flew. The single alarmed caw was all he was able to make while he was in the form of a crow. He cawed several times in a pattern as loud as he could and flew in a circle twice. It would be the only time he would likely get the chance to signal the others.

Another volley of three arrows flew one after another from the forest line nearly half a mile away. Qrow dove towards the area and flew above the tree line while he looked for something that stood out. Jaune was right with his warning. Salem men had targeted him first. The arrows were a direct counter to the patrolman. If Amber was just with her two escorts, Jaune would have had to make the decision to go after the archer, or stay and defend from two sides.

Qrow circled around and found the archer. It was the woman from Jaune's picture. Thankfully, she was alone. Instead of the tanned leather pants and vest, she wore a pair of green shorts and brown patterned vest. The woman pulled back her empty hands and her clothes glowed in the pattern on the patched vest. _Dust infused clothes._ Qrow amended.

The dust pulled together in clinks of black burnt glass shards. Three arrows hovered in place across the bow string as she pulled the bow taunt. Qrow saw his opening with her eyes closed. Qrow flew around to see what was sitting behind her long auburn hair that covered her eye. It was some kind of red lens. When he looked closer, he nearly cawed out an alarm as he realized the black and red bulb over her face he thought was some kind of lens wasn't what he thought it was.

It was a grim. The red bulb shuddered and the arrows flew into the air in a perfect arc, no doubt with a high accuracy judging by the first few volleys.

Qrow flapped his wings and flew up and circled around to build up speed. If he had the chance to end this quickly he would take it. Moments before the woman realized he was above him, his body shifted into his human form. His sword already raised to deal the killing blow. There was no way he would allow her to touch Amber.

The woman had no warnings as the blade made contact with her aura. She looked up and screamed as her aura began to crack. The grim quivered over her face before it lashed out around the blade. Qrow tried to push the blade through before he felt something slam into him. It's weight shook his body with every crack of the trees he was burrowed through. Qrow could only feel rather than see something large and heavy as it tried to lower it's maw on his arm several times in rapid bites. It only pulled back when his arm refused to be mangled. A thick heavy leg kicked off Qrow and landed low on haunches and growled.

The woman hopped over the destroyed forest. She stared at Qrow before she focused on her grim that had sat over her eye. She had not realized it was gorged from Qrows' first attack until it began to flake into black wisps of smoke. The woman swore silently to herself before she channeled aura into her clothes. Two blades clinked together in her hands. The woman looked at the grim. "Make your way to Tyrion. If he has the girl, bring her to me. If he doesn't, kill the patrolman before you get her."

The monstrous grim snarled a high pitched whine. It crouched before it jumped forward and bounded quicker than Qrow thought possible across the tree line. The grim jumped over the wreckage and out of the forest in a sprint. It moved even faster in the open land.

Qrow swore as he clicked the switch on his sword. The gears inside his blade whirled to life and his sword extended into a scythe. Qrow felt the aura pump through his weapon as he swung. The trees in front of him started to crack and groan as aura infused pressure sped to the woman heedless of what was in the way. She turned and ran back to the edge of the forest line to give herself room to go between open ground and cover. Qrow followed after her.

 _Her aura must have taken a hit from that blow. Just a bit more._ Qrow thought as he swung his scythe in front of him and pulled it back. Ahead of the woman, a tree trunk was sliced and it slid off its base and tipped over. The woman simply jumped over it. Qrow hopped over it just as quickly and nearly had an arrow through his skull as his reward. The glass arrow shattered behind him as he swung his scythe one more time. This time he added dust to the slice. The forest trees ahead of him were cut and ice exploded from the cuts in wide indiscriminate blasts.

The woman screamed as one knocked her back towards Qrow. Qrow put a little more aura into his steps and swung his weapon downward at the woman. The clink of glass sounded almost too close to the sound of clinked ice. The change in tone warned him of the rain of jagged daggers that flew on top of his head. Qrow pulled back and the two had entered the clearing.

The woman gripped her vest shut. It looked like the ice blast hit her dead center in the chest. Blood seeped through the dust clothes destroying much of the power the clothes stored. She panted and swallowed a grunt as she pulled out something from her hip bag. "You got a choice."

Qrow readied his weapon with the intent to attack before she had a chance to speak. As he took his step forward the black-stone-like thing in the woman's hands pulsed. She raised a single finger that she encased with a long jagged shard of glass and slid it across the black thing in her hand. The thing shuddered as it pumped in three single vibrations.

"It's a grims heart…" Qrow stuttered in alarm. The blood from the heart dropped at the woman's feet. It kept pooling and it spread out in front of her. She took a step back as seven sets of massive paws and hooves started to try and climb themselves out of the nether. The grim had no skin, only raw black muscles around legs, claws and horns. The grim resembled nothing Qrow had ever seen. They were all different masses of animal parts and things that he could not place. And they all locked eyes onto him. Qrow raised his weapon.

"I said you had a choice." The woman patiently interrupted his thoughts. "You could stay and continue to fight me, and probably kill me. Or…" She turned to the grim. "The blonde man with the blue vest. Eat him." The seven monstrosities made of black muscles roared in high pitched chirps and whines. Like the first one, they moved faster on the open road. Qrow glared at her. "Or you can try and save those poor, poor victims from these grim."

The woman gave him a cruel smile. Qrow retracted his weapon, he was on a timer and the new grim were already out of sight. They would be faster than he was on foot.

"I'll be seeing you again." Qrow backed off and started to break into a run. He had never dared transform in front of someone, much less an enemy. He could still feel her smirking gaze on his back as he ran down the road. He would never be fast enough to intercept the grim at this rate.

Qrow lowered his head and swore viciously to himself. "I should transform." Even as everything told him that he would never be able to be an observer again if he did so. But he knew Amber was in danger. "SHIT!" Qrows body morphed into a black crow in the middle of the road and his body ascended into the air.

-o-

The faunus landed in a heap and hissed at the burnt flesh against his ankle. He had been warned that the biggest threat would be the patrolman. He had not been prepared for the trap the handcuffs on his ankle created when they reacted to aura. The cuffs were made of Remnite. The metal was used in huntsman weapons, and it resonated with _any_ aura. "That Maiden bitch will pay." He snarled as he tried to stand again. The foot against this shoulder blades knocked him back.

The faunus turned around to see the aged blonde man glare back at him. "Why is it the blondes?" He muttered as he charged the man. His tail raised ready to make just as quick work against the blonde man. His poison would work just like it did against the maiden.

Tai snapped his wrist up against the Faunus' forearm and slammed his knee against his opponents thigh. The same one with the burnt ankle. "Arg!" The faunus shouted as his tail dove at Tai.

Tai backhanded the tail away and then punched the poisonous tip downward slamming it and burying the stinger into the ground. Tai raised and stomped his foot against the man's back before he grabbed the handcuffs still attached to the faunus leg and pulled the man's opposite wrist across the man's body over his back. The faunus body was forced to bend backwards and he flailed. The faunus instantly regretted using aura to break the bond as the handcuffs vibrated with energy and heat. The faunus screamed again. "When I get out of these, you are dead! You will suffer a slow painful death just like that maiden bitch! No no no.. that is too good, Your family will be first and I will watch and laugh as you sit there while I give you their severed heads!"

Tai glared at the man and kicked his head to knock him out. Tai started to scramble back up the slope as he remembered what the faunus had said.

-o-

Jaune knelt next to Amber. The woman groaned and looked at the black poison that stained her stomach. The liquid mixed with blood. Black and red stained her hands as she held it against her bleeding abdomen.

Jaune's shaky voice tried to calm down as he knelt down to hold his hand over hers to add pressure. "Hang on Amber."

Jaune looked to the sky and realized the arrows stopped for a while now. He hoped that meant Qrow was nearby. Jaune looked down to see Tai run up the bank.

"Tai, Amber's poisoned."

"Qrow should have been here by now." Tai grunted as he got up to the top of the bank.

"He might have gone after the archer. Those arrows stopped almost as fast as they started. Take over for a second." Jaune and Tais hands were slick with blood as they traded spots. Jaune forced himself to focus for a moment. The arrows were fired in an arc from the forest line. But the man came from ahead of them. "We'll need to run back to Port Strands."

Tai shook his head, "It took us a day and a half to get here from that port. We should follow the road, our back up will be there and they will show if they see we are in trouble."

Jaune scowled at him. "We don't know how far ahead of us they were, and it's going to be far if they didn't respond to this attack. We can't count on them if they were not here by now. There was a wagon we passed half a day ago. They may have a better shot at having medical supplies. No arguments Tai."

Jaune knelt beside Amber and quickly pulled out a spare shirt and ripped it into bandages. The group had traveled light but they would need to travel lighter. With Amber's wounds bandaged Jaune dropped the bag. He wouldn't need it anymore.

The patrolman looked up to Tai and nearly rolled his eyes. The man still felt they should have gone on the same path to look for their missing back up. Jaune didn't mention that if those were Salem's people they would know where Jaune had intended to go. And that was the last place they needed to be. Jaune pulled out his scroll and took several pictures of the man they left at the bottom of the bank before he put away his scroll.

Amber grunted into a sitting position as Jaune knelt down. She looked at Jaune under half lidded eyes."I'm sorry. It's either elements or aura. I can't use both at the same time."

Jaune narrowed his eyes as he knelt down. _The man probably knew it too._ "Tai I'll carry her, get her on my back." Tai reluctantly let the younger man lift her up. Jaune felt his new center of balance and was only slightly relieved she was lighter than he thought. "Let me know if I am going too fast. Amber shouldn't be that much of a led weight."

Amber whimpered before she laughed. "Just get us going Jaune."

Tai and Jaune spared a brief nervous look. Nothing else needed to be said as the two started to run. Both tried their bests to ignore Ambers grunts. Jaune was very conscious of the wet sensation against his back.

-o-

The run was more of a trot for Jaune for how slow he needed to move to not outpace Tai. Jaune said nothing of it as Tai was pacing himself and still moving as fast as he could. They just could not afford to separate in case there were more people after them.

Jaune looked up ahead. They would catch up to the wagon soon. It had barely been moving at a walking pace the day before and they would have to had stopped frequently to rest their animals. Already Jaune felt relieved when the could still see the trail of the wagon fresh against the road. Jaune went around the semi fresh horse manure and turned back to Tai.

"Tai?" The man had slowed and came to a halt as did Jaune several meters away.

"Go ahead, grim are coming behind us. Get her to that wagon. I'll catch up."

Jaune gave the man a look. Amber, still semi-conscious, groaned against his neck. Jaune nodded at Tai. "I'll get her there in time. See you soon." Jaune turned and gripped Ambers' legs. "Amber. Are you with me?"

She grunted but nodded against his back.

"I need you to tighten your grip on my neck. I can get you there faster but you need to help me by hanging on."

Amber breathed out an airy, ' _ok'_.

Jaune felt her arms grip around his neck and smiled. He started with steady long steps to ease the burden. There is no doubt that the bouncing will hurt her a lot. One step turned into two. Three strides turned into a full sprint in long bounds as Jaune used every muscles in his legs torso and shoulders to carry them both as quickly as he could down the flat road.

-o-

Tai watched the two go and shook his head. The whole time he had spent with the patrolman he could not _help_ compare the young man to his daughter Yang. Where she was playful and unfocused, Jaune was equal parts measured and thoughtful. The teen was the picture of a professional patrolman.

Tai looked up the path and his aura sensed the disturbance as it bounded towards him in quick leaps. It was three minutes before he could actually see the grim on two legs and no arms. It had a large snout with a beak more than a muzzle for a mouth. Tai furrowed his brow. The grim was something he had never seen before. It covered the land in large effortless strides as it released a high pitched whine.

Tai parted his legs and moved his hands to his stomach and diaphragm. With enough aura in his chest, he let loose an earth shaking roar aimed at the grim. The grim lowered its head and kept burrowing through the attack. It veered slightly to its left before it righten and continued its sprint towards the huntsman.

Tai frowned. That roar would usually out right kill grim. But this one just appeared to get dizzy. Tai started to walk to the grim and inhaled again. Another roar vibrated the air. Dry grass and loose dirt and gravel lifted off the ground and spread out in a great 'V'.

The grim groaned and growled as it staggered to a walk. As it reached Tai, it weakly snapped its maw at the blonde man once, then free out of the focal point, sprinted past him.

Tai swore the moment he realized the grim was not going to fight him. It was after something else. Tai instantly thought of the warnings Ozpin spoke about intelligent grim.

Tai leaned back in an inhale then bent forward and exhaled an aura enhanced yell that rumbled and cracked earth meters in front of him. The wave of distorted air and sound slammed into the grim where it stumbled and squealed a loud high pitched groan into the dirt. The grim swerved back and forth attempting to stay on its feet.

Tai just ran knowing he had a scant few seconds. The grim was much faster than he was and Tai knew he could not afford to let it escape. Tai raised his fist as the grim stood up. The sound of flesh against bone echoed loudly and the grim's maw swung widely from Tai's aura enhanced left hook. Tai spun and back handed the mouth another time before he kicked the head high into the air and snapped his foot down at the knee before his rotated his hips and kicked outward. The grim's body burrowed into the ground from the impact.

Tai felt his foot vibrate from the hit. It was as if he was hitting a mountain. Tai inhaled sharply and stomped on the grim's neck. The stomp made the grim hiss in protest. Tai released his roar into the open mouth of the grim where the roof of the grims' mouth visibly vibrated and ruptured before the aura enhanced air caved into the grim's skull. The grims' body collapsed and laid there for a few moments. It took longer for the body to fade than Tai expected. The huntsman gave a relieved sigh when the grim's body finally began to break apart into motes of dark energy.

Tai looked between where he knew Qrow and his back up may possibly be, and the direction where Jaune took Amber. Jaune's decision to go back to the port town and that wagon made sense, but it did not sit well with him to have no one there to support them. There were no guarantees that the wagon would aid them. And that would force Jaune to move on to the town.

Tai started to run back down the road to catch up to Jaune and Amber. He knew he would not catch up any time soon. But wagons do not move that fast. Tai was confident he could at least catch up to that.

Ten minutes passed where he concentrated on the run and his senses spread open to survey the landscape of grim. He was rewarded when he felt a number of grim make another approach. Like the last one, this group had run down the main road, a behavior he had never seen in grim before. Tai swallowed when he realized he would not have the advantage here. The road took a bend around several hills. The mass of unease and anger shifted and started to cut across the hills.

Tai swore and he started to sprint to catch up. The hills would slow them down some, but it was still a shorter path than the one he ran on the road. He tried to sense where they were on the hills and his head tilted a little north east. Tai remembered this part of the road bent to the west one more time before it straightened out towards Port Strands. Tai stopped and put his foot against the roads' railing and jumped into the air. Aura suffused his body as he landed several hundred meters below and into the reveen. He groaned as his legs buckled from the impact. He took a few steps to walk off the strain before he jogged to beat the grim. Even from this part of the road Tai had to whistle at how fast the patrolman moved. Even with no aura to make that kind of short cut, there was no sign of Jaune and Amber nearby.

Tai refocused on where the grim had run. It took him fifteen minutes but he finally was ahead of them again and he waited at the mouth of the road where it started to climb over the hills. Tai backuped a ways from the slope so he would meet them on flat land. It was times like this he could hear both Raven and Summer berate him for not training. Sure he had experience. But that counted for little when he could _feel_ how slow his aura responded to his body. He commanded his body to flush with aura but his body protested as the decades of laclastical training caught up with him. He had always been the relaxed one of the team. Even with Qrow's drinking and party man attitude, it was always Tai himself that never took things so seriously.

Tai was confident that he could pull his weight and keep the team grounded when they got too excited but there was always that part of him that kept himself from fully committing to being a huntsman like the rest of team STRQ.

Tai felt the slow hum in the core of his body. When Tai first saw the grim he had killed, he had formed an idea that there would be more and something different than what he was used to back in Vale. But the number of them that all paused to glare at him made him swallow his pride and confidence at stopping them all. One of the strange muscled grim tilted it's head to emit a hollowed out pitched whine. The group of grim spread apart wide and started to run past him. In that moment Tai realized he would not be able to catch them all when they were that spread apart. He had to wait.

The grim decided to ignore him as they approached. The line of grim spread across the road and into the field. The largest of the group kept its eyes trained on him as it ran by not five meters away from the huntsman. This close, Tai could make out the grims face. It's head was more of a skull than a traditional grim with a bone mask. Sinew and muscle kept the skull in place among black corded muscle at its neck. The grim snorted a high pitch whine as it passed.

Tai waited until he saw them close ranks back onto the road. He ground his teeth as they pulled further away. _Just get a little closer together..._ He thought to himself.

Tai slid a piece of jagged rock into his mouth when they had group up. The huntsman relaxed his jaw and exhaled as he bit the piece of crystal with a loud crunch that could only come from crushed rocks. His cheeks burned from the sudden buildup of ice that crusted his face. It shattered as quickly as it formed. Tai's roar rippled the air. The shockwave hit the grim first as the group stumbled. The one in the lead gave an urgent whine as several others began to speed faster away from the attack. Three at the back of the pack struggled to escape the shockwave. Only one of those turned back to see him. It's eyes were the first to freeze completely and expand, exploding in its sockets. It's limbs froze in place. The momentum that carried its bulk broke from its frozen legs in a pained whine as the remaining body of the grim turned to whisps.

Tai started to run over the frozen landscape as most of the other grim who were further up ahead took some damage to freeze them in place. His attack only killed two. The rest seemed to escape the kill zone.

Tai raised his fist and it exploded in visible white aura. He bit into another crystal and spat a wad of fire onto his fist. Tai's punch slammed into the half frozen straggler. The ice around the grim instantly evaporated imploding the grim. Its body disappeared before it hit the ground.

Tai started to run again. The others were still far ahead of him. They were slowed but were still running. Tai glanced at his hands. Each one held a different crystal. Raw crystals were always dangerous. His control of his aura was the best in his team, but there were so much risks in using raw crystals like this. The impurities would leave any attack as a gamble. Failures were a frequent issue. The crystals were also volatile. They could blow up in his face and hurt anyone who was nearby before he even used them.

Tai looked at the grim as they slowly recovered and began to out pace him in earnest. The huntsman thumbed the crystal in his hand. Out here, he was all alone. There would be no one to get in his way.

Tai inhaled before he raised both crystal filled fists together in front of him. The crack of crystals exploded as he clapped his hands together. He leaned into the explosion and the roar of aura acted like a vacuum. It sucked in the air behind him and the dust explosion suddenly collapsed in on itself before the aura burst forth in several narrow beams of light.

The lead grim cried out a warning as it jumped off the road. Two others made it in time before another pair of grim were pierced by the attack. The two grim cried as the hiss of their remains tumbled into a heap.

The lead grim snarled and barked at the grim next to it. The two of the three grim turned to go after Tai. The biggest grim glared one final time at Tai before it turned around and started to resume its sprint down the main road.

-o-

Jaune ran down the road, confident he would be able to see the caravan soon. This side of the mountains were open plains and he was fully able to run as fast as he needed. The patrolman felt Amber curl her fists into his vest. He had been conscious of the slick stain against his back for a while now. Jaune was not sure if he was hoping it was blood or poison. Either could be deadly by now.

Jaune was relieved that the distance was very short for a patrolman. At most forty miles. What made it so far was how fast a normal person could walk on foot. Even huntsmen could only move so fast for so long before they used up and ran out of aura or just exhausted themselves. The miles rolled by under his feet. If there was anything Jaune could be confident about, it was his running legs. The speed of a patrolman was in a class of its own. He hoped it was enough to get Amber help.

Amber's chin moved against his collar bone. He muttered, "Just hang in there Amber. We'll get you help soon."

"I don't think so Jaune." Her voice was in his ear, but it was so weak he gripped her legs and willed himself to go faster.

"Come on, you still haven't had your chance to talk to Qrow yet. You still want to sort that out right?"

Jaune felt his mouth run dry. He was no doctor and he was afraid if Amber fell asleep she wouldn't wake up.

Jaune felt his heart stop when she released a sob and she hugged his neck tighter. "Jaune, don't be like us." Amber cried through burning eyes. They hurt her more than the poison in her stomach. "Talk to Coco. Care for her. Find some happiness. I don't want you to end up like me and Qrow."

Amber slumped forward and her pale hands gripped his shirt. She gasped out a sobbed, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Jaune nearly let himself crack from the anguished cry. "Don't apologize. This was my fault. It was my stupid idea. If I didn't think of it, you would be safe in Beacon. Just stay awake a little longer Amber. We'll find someone that can patch you up. Just stay awake."

Amber apparently did not hear him. Her lips struggled out, "I I- wasn-..."

Jaune held his breath for a moment but relaxed when she was still breathing against his back. He picked up the little speed he lost and was suddenly aware of how heavy she felt on his back now that she was asleep.

-o-

Qrow would have sighed in relief if he was able. This high in the air, oxygen was thin in the atmosphere. But he found the grim. As he dove down he immediately pulled up as a familiar attack erupted from behind them.

Qrow tilted his avian body to see Tai had unleashed an attack he had not seen in nearly fifteen years. Qrow did a cursory glance at the damage before he dove bomb towards the lead grim. That one was not escaping.

He was already in his human form with sword fully extended. The grim jerked to the side as it felt something above him. Qrow had already adjusted the sword and it slice throw the monsters skull at the beak before the ground beneath him buckled and exploded outward to make way for his landing.

The grim that started to attack Tai did not pause. One jumped high and the other dove low to snap at Tai's legs. Qrow was relieved when they decided to fight in close range. It was Tai's best range.

To prove the point, Tai thrust an aura enhanced foot at the low one. The grim skull crunched against the earth as bone snapped and cracked in a loud echo. Tai jumped back unable to finish it off when the next one snapped at his head and ran around to the side to make Tai turn.

Qrow had never seen a grim do it before but he recognized a pincer attack. "Tai! The other one is getting up!" Qrow transformed into a bird to close the distance and transformed back into his human form with his scythe fully extended. He hooked the grims' back legs as it tried to lung which only cause it to whine in pain as the scythe buried itself deep into its haunches. It blindly turned and snapped at Qrow. The chipped and bloody skull of the grim sprayed Qrow as it snapped at his weapon.

Qrow twisted his scythe and swung it over head where tip buried deep into the beast's back. He gripped the handle and the gears in the weapon came to life as the blades extended into the grim's back and the slight arc of the scythe curved deeper into the monster's body, doing its best for the blades of the scythe to make circle with its' blades inside the grim's body.

The grim grunted a dying whine as it began to fade away allowing Qrow's scythe to complete its circle noose like hook. Qrow looked up in time to see Tai had buried a fist into the muscles of the grim he fought. There was a loud click as if glass broke. The exposed muscles of the grim began to contract and light erupted from the body. Tai pulled his burnt hand from the body as it slumped to the ground.

Tai looked at his shaking hand. "That was all of my crystals." He frowned.

"Where's Amber and Jaune?"

Tai looked further back the road. "Amber was poisoned by the guy that attacked us. The kid took her back towards town. He thought that the caravan we passed yesterday may have medical supplies."

"Let's go. We don't want to stick around incase more grim show up."

"Qrow, what's going on? I've never seen a grim like that before."

Qrow swallowed the lump in his throat. "Those grim were controlled by the woman in the picture we showed you. I've never seen them before either."

"Pick up the pace Qrow. The kid has a lead on us."

The pair had been running only run for a few moments longer before Tai reluctantly asked, "What happened to our backup?"

Qrow frowned and shook his head. "I don't know. They were shadowing us by only a few miles. The would have seen the fighting. Scroll range is limited out here, but they should have at least tried to message any of us."

The pair ran in silence. The only sound was the pound of their feet and the puffs of their breath.

Tai had no idea how long they had run, but he knew he had zoned out there for a while. He just concentrated on running. The black dot ahead of them broke him out of his thoughts. It was a small shade in the middle of the open field. Suddenly it moved, criss-crossing across the road ahead of them before it grew and enveloped them. Then it disappeared.

Qrow looked to his left as he felt something darken his vision for only a moment. He quickly blinked.

"Qrow!" Both huntsman spotted a black rectangle in the sky behind them.

Qrow was alarmed that the first sign of the grim was its shadow. It made no noise. The two huntsmen skid to a halt ready to fight it, but the grim ignored them. The monster gilded relatively low to the ground as it flew slowly over head. Qrow quickly corrected his initial thought as it passed them and moved beyond them down the road. The thing wasn't moving slowly, it was just massive.

"What is it with today?" Tai growled. Ahead of them they could see the rectangle box suddenly bend as the pair of wings silently flapped once before it continued its glide.

Both men sprinted after it. They realized that it was following the road towards Jaune. "Can you catch up to it?" Tai panted.

Qrow shook his head. "I'll try, but it's too fast. You going to be ok by yourself?"

Tai pushed Qrow's shoulder. "Just go already. I don't like my chances if I have to help you fight that when I'm out of dust." Tai pulled open his scroll. The alert for local access only blinked at the bottom. When he opened the communication there was only static. Tai looked up in time to see Qrows small form attempt to follow the grim.

-o-

Jaune instantly spotted the shadow as it was cast over the open fields to his right. He tilted his head and wanted to release a pained hopeless laugh at what he saw.

A patrolman's greatest threat were airborne grim. They could fly by obstacles and fly faster than any patrolman could run. Hours of lessons beat into his head as Jaune realized his predicament. There was no cover in these open fields. There was only one road and a caravan between him and the city walls that would have turrets. And he had a friend dying on his back.

Jaune exhaled and leaned forward as he sped up. "Amber! Wake up!" He struggled to pull open his scroll with Amber's legs over his hip pocket. With a single click he turned on the emergency beacon. His normally green screen with the usual message that said LOCAL NETWORK ONLY turned to a blue rectangle that flared the words INTERNATIONAL SIGNAL. It didn't matter who he called, every scroll in range would get his signal.

"Emergency Alert for all Huntsman please stand by." Jaune looked over his shoulder to get a good look at the grim. The body was a buzzard. As it moved closer he could only make out what could have been mask. But it was the complete silence that bothered him. Grim usually made some kind of noise. Jaune had used those noises to help keep track of them. As it seemed to spot him and fly towards him with a single flap of its wings, Jaune could only move the scroll back to his mouth. "Forty miles west of Port Strands, a flying buzzard type grim is sighted flying low along route fifteen. Grim is approximately seventy feet across and flies silent. Request immediate relay to Port Strands for possible grim attack." Jaune spared a glance at the screen to hit a five minute repeat message before he closed it.

The grim caught up to him less than a minute later. It flew low and kicked up dust in its wake. "Come on Amber wake up!" Jaune's stomach sunk as his fears were confirmed that it was after the two of them. It was not just some random wild grim. The shadow enveloped him and he could see two massive sets of talons reach out to him. He barely had the time to see the fresh gore that had covered its claws before he immediately slowed to let the claws catch up. "Amber, flare your aura!" He threw her over his head and her body flew over the enclosed talons. Amber grunted as she limply rolled across the ground for several feet from the speed.

Jaune felt himself become nauseated from the sudden smell of blood as he let his body fall to the ground. The _Shink_ of the talons as they cut air rung in his ears. Jaune moved his arms to cover his head. With no aura he felt every bump and scrap as his body slid across the ground. The momentum of his own speed tore at his clothes and his flesh as he skidded to a stop. Jaune groaned as he looked up to see the grim fly up and glide around for another pass.

Jaune quickly looked for Amber with the precious few moments. He was relieved to see she was fair distance away down the road and moving. She clutched her stomach and tried to open her eyes. Jaune turned back to the grim to see it was already descending again.

The patromal grunted as he got to a knee and pushed off it to sprint towards Amber. "Hang on Amber. I got you." He placed his arms under her legs and shoulder and lifted her. She grunted and opened an eye.

"Thanks for the warning." Amber struggled to say more but fell silent.

Jaune swallowed air as he saw the shadow in the field circle around and move closer to him. When the wings began to cover the ground over him, Jaune looked over his shoulders. His mind ran full throttle as he tried to find an answer to save them both. Jaune squinted when nothing came forward.

"Don't bite your tongue."

The suddenness of the instructions made him look down to Amber. She gave him an apologetic smile before she grabbed his shoulder. She leapt out of his arms and planted her feet. She threw him several yards out of the way. Moments later she pulled her staff as it instantly glowed with blue aura. The talons that tried to bisect the pair sliced the air as it collapsed onto the woman's body.

Jaune looked up in time to scream. His ears rung as the blood flooded them from the panic as the grim's claws began to close on her. The bird instantly flew up. The wind blinded Jaune for a moment as his stomach heard a sickening snap from the claws.

Amber dropped down followed by the remains of the aura infused staff that saved her life. She was unsteady on her feet but looked up to see the bird circle around.

"Amber let's go!" Jaune started to run to her. She frantically waved a hand at him. Fire cut off his path.

"Let me do my job Jaune."

"You can't fight like that."

Amber coughed and clutched her stomach. "I know."

Jaune looked to the grim in the air. It circled around another time. A single flap of its wings lifted it's body higher into the air before it started to dive. Jaune stared at it, unsure who was its target. His answer came quickly as its wings flapped open wide and its claws were nearly above him. Jaune quickly sprinted to the side. He kept running at a glance of the wings that block his vision of the sun. The tips of the grim's feathers brushed the earth and the talons extended to make contact in a loud crunch. Jaune rolled and bounced once off the ground to land on his feet. He skid to a halt as the grim's claws dug deep into the earth.

Jaune nearly lost his footing as the wind kicked upwards. The grim flapped twice and flew back up into the air to circle around. This time it did not bother to go for another steep dive and instead flew low and inadvertently caused a dust storm to from its wake.

Jaune swore through the haze when he realized that the grim targeted him again. His attitude did a complete turn around as he looked over to Amber. "Take your shot!"

"Over here!" Amber's voice was gurgled as she spat up saliva. The bandages on her stomach were seeped with blood and she waivered unsteadily on her feet. Fire erupted from her eyes before the flames engulfed her body. Wind picked her body up and started to blow a current of air at the grim. The wave of fire followed the current as the heat smashed against the bird and splashed over the grim like the ocean breaking over rocks.

The grim flew through the fire and flew back up with the first cry of alarm it made since Jaune had seen it. The cry was more of a groan like the bending of wood. Amber floated back down to the ground and collapsed. Jaune picked her up and noticed the shallow breathing as a fever overtook her. He started to make a run off the road. That caravan was in the way of the town. If the grim was set on following the two of them, Jaune needed to lower the number of people he would stumble across on his escape.

Jaune was disappointed that the flames did little to slow the bird. A sardonic voice in the back of his mind almost asked why the grim didn't turn into a firebird grim. A hundred meters above him, there was a flash of a hissed explosion followed by the grims' screeched pained cry. The bird flapped frantically to hold itself in the air as it steadied.

-o-

Qrow gripped the feather to help stabilize his footing. He tried to not think about how that feather was still larger than he was. The grim yawed back and forth to force him off it's back. "Like hell I would let go now that I got on." Qrow lamented his favorite whiskey, but Amber's fire had only smoldered the feathers, it needed something else with the help of some aura to really start a fire. As soon as he was satisfied that the fire was holding, Qrow pulled on the grim's feathers to go further up the bird's body. The fire set low on the bird's back but it was not low enough to its tail. He pulled himself further towards the head. The grim suddenly lurched up.

Qrow grunted and gripped a feather in each hand. Around the sudden air current he realized that the grim was flying higher. It took him a moment to make the connection to the fire. It was going to put the fire out with a lack of oxygen. The grim continued to fly higher.

Qrow swore as he began to climb faster. "Arg!" Qrow pulled back his hand to his chest as he touched something sharp. Buried in the feathers was the shine of a sharpened edge with a handle as long as the blade. Its hilt was a giant extended wrist guard in the shape of a box. Qrow took hold of the handle and squeezed and twisted it. The blade instantly pulled out of the thick hide of the grim.

Qrow swallowed as he noted that the blade barely pierced into the grim's armor. The huntsman's weapon, Shiro's weapon, pulled in over Qrow's forearm and the box hilt snapped shut around the handle to reveal a double barrel shotgun over his knuckle and underside of his wrist.

Qrow stared at the familiar weapon and bit back the tear. "Shiro, Carmina… Guys…" Qrow closed his eyes and took the moment to regain control of himself. _Grieve later._

Qrow made it to the neck of the grim and stared at the black scales on muscle. There would be no climb unnoticed while on that space free of feathers. Qrow felt the grim lurch again as it made its decent back down. The huntsman spared a glance at the fire behind him and knew it was out before he looked.

The grim seemed to know exactly where its target was. It slowly yawed and dipped. Qrow gripped Shiro's weapon and made the jump from the shoulder blade to the grim's head. The grim bobbed its head mindless of the new weight that rested on its scalp.

Qrow gripped the feathers that were now only as long as his arm and climbed the top of the grim's head to see the mask. _That's not what I wanted to see._ Qrow thought to himself. His original plan was to try and blast its eyes to get a foothold into the mask. It had always been the easiest way to break past any grim's armor and hide.

There were no such holes on this grim. The mask was a solid piece with small red divots where the eyes should have been.

The grim had no eyes.

The grim's body began to speed up in a dive again. Qrow grunted as he gripped the feathers above the mask and started to channel aura into his friends weapon. "I just need a crack!" The barrels of the gun began to hum with energy. Qrow thrust his fist to the base of the mask and fired what he had scornfully told Shiro were cannons.

The grim's body shuddered and the bird started to pull back up into the air with two great flaps of its wings. It made a long sharp turn as it tilted its body nearly vertically. Qrow scowled as the only thing he could do was hang on. The brief moments he was able to see the mask again, there were only scorch marks. Qrow charged his aura back into Shiro's weapon. As soon as the grim leveled out, Qrow pressed his fist firmly to the top of the skull where it met the mask and enveloped his body with a thick layer of aura. The barrels began to glow hot and red. Qrow gritted his teeth and looked away.

 _Bwa-boom._

Qrow screamed in alarm as his fingers slipped. There was no pause. The grim's body flew past him in a blast of wind. Qrows' eyes blurred as he tried to concentrate on his arm. Shiro's weapon was unrecognizable. Most of the two barrels and handle that he had gripped in his fist were gone. His hand was burned raw and red. The forearm guard where the blades rested were the only things still in tact but the scorch from the blast left traces over the casing as well.

The bird was completely gone along with any chance to catch it again. It was a miracle he was able to catch up to it the first time when it dove at Jaune.

The grim made another silent turn and dove to the ground. "Amber." Qrow struggled to flip in the air and looked towards the ground. He had not realized how high the grim had flown them into the air. The bird was still making its descent through the clouds. He would never be able to fly fast enough to catch up to that bulky grim's dive.

In his mind, Qrow knew his fight was over as soon as he lost his grip on the grim. There was no one left to help her. _I am sorry._ Qrow screamed out his rage and her name.

-o-

Jaune kept his eyes ahead as he ran but on the lookout for the shadow. It had been the only reliable warning he had of the buzzard grim. He knew he would need every moment when it showed back up. He was unsure where it went once it had that fire on it's back, but Amber's fire would not last long in the air like that.

Jaune could feel Amber's heated forehead rest on his shoulder as he carried her bridal style. He tried his best not to think of her as 'dead to the world' while she laid in his arms unconscious.

Jaune cheered as he could recognize the water from this distance, he was still quite a while out from the city, but the water gave him hope. There were no roads this far north of route fifteen. He looked to his right and saw main road a few miles south of him.

Jaune was unsure if he had passed the caravan but he felt he should have by now. He looked back to the water line some twenty miles ahead of him. While he was walking west with the group, he assumed that the ground was level. But there was definitely a slope. It was subtle but it seemed to last for miles. His feet carried them both down the gentle slope while he thanked everything that listened for even the little extra help to get Amber closer to safety.

Jaune saw the shadows of the cloud cover move ahead of him. Jaune swallowed and gripped Amber tighter to his chest and willed himself to run faster with no real increase in speed. The shadows of the clouds slowly darkened from just a gray blotch to a circle of sunlight and something forming on the ground. Jaune did not bother to look to the sky. It didn't matter where the grim was. It was fast enough to catch up to him. Jaune felt his stomach clench and his chest ached from all the running he had done. Jaune knew he pushed himself too hard already and his body ached from just dodging the grim the first time. Fatigue finally began to catch up with him. He could feel his body had slowed. His legs were one hundred pound weights even with the help of gravity to spur him further down towards the water.

Jaune felt like he had run for hours to escape the flying grim and Jaune's mind _still_ found no answers. He stared at the shadow as it circled twice before it began to stabilize and grow in size. Finally, the shadow started to move to center over him. Jaune's breathing turned to a pant as he saw that the shadow slowly grow in size.

The patrolman nodded his head as he kept running. A soft contemplative acceptance suffused his body. A small proud smile grew on him. Jaune knew his time would come eventually. It was how patrolmen normally retired. They would encounter a grim they could not out run. _It was a good run._ Jaune thought to himself. Abruptly, he bit back the laugh at the unintended joke. Instead of breathing, he exhaled a nearly pained cry.

Jaune looked down to Amber and regretted that she would be taken along with him. If anything, he could hopefully throw her one more time out of the grim's claws. If he could just try and give her a few more moments to live. A few more moments of hope. That was enough. At least it was enough for him.

Jaune felt his eyes sting and ignored the shadow as it encased him. He ignored the sudden breeze against his back to look down at Amber. His hands adjusted their grip as he prepared to throw her.

..

…

Just a few more seconds left…

The wind roared louder than the grim did…

...

WARNING TO ALL CIVILIANS, PREPARE FOR AERIAL BOMBARDMENT.

Jaune had not realized he had closed his eyes until they were suddenly opened. Tears blurred his vision. He released the sudden breath he had not realized he had held. Jaune dropped to his knees and covered Amber's ears. His scroll started to repeat the message another time but it was drowned out by the roar of cannon fire that exploded directly above him.

-o-

-AERIAL BOMBARDMENT.

Qrow swore as he quickly transformed into a bird just before the explosion hundreds of feet below him pushed his small crow body higher into the air. The explosions did not stop and Qrow let his wings get carried by the air currents to not get sucked into the fight below him. He could only hope that the ships made it in time.

-o-

Jaune only knew he was still alive because of the high pitched sound that cursed his ears. The explosions seemed to go higher into the air and it allowed him to begin to hear his own breath. He quickly let go of the older woman's ears to check everything else. She still was unconscious but the bleeding finally stopped. And she still breathed.

Jaune opened his scroll. The blue signal screen it emitted turned green as he made it open to the international channel. "This is Patrolman Jaune Arc. Is the grim still airborne?"

"Grim is still airborne and at an altitude of five thousand feet. It's attempting to attack one of our frigates. But it is sufficiently distracted."

Jaune allowed himself a relieved smile and wiped the sweat from his brow. "I have a critically injured VIP. Requesting an immediate evacuation to the Port."

Jaune swallowed as he looked to the sky. Several explosions shuddered the air as the fight seemed to go higher into the air.

"Request granted. Turn on your beacon. A cruiser will arrive in fifteen minutes."

Jaune nearly laughed at that. He lifted up the scroll to his mouth and said into the international channel, "You hear that Qrow? Tai? Get your asses to me if you want a ride home. If you don't get here follow the main road back." Jaune flipped the scroll over and pulled the butt panel off and flipped the emergency beacon switch.

Jaune wanted to keep his optimism. But the roar of the cannon fire sobered clouds moved in currents while the grim fought a fleet with relentless fury. Over the communication channel he could hear the chatter of the Mistral fleet as they called for emergency rotation of the ships as they meanuved the ships with increasing damage to the back and fresh ships in front to keep it's attention.

The time seemed to last forever until the cruiser arrived. But Jaune was relieved when he found out why. Tai was at the hatch entrance as the ship lowered to hover several feet above them. Several men and women jumped down with a flat board. They quickly took control of Amber's injured body and secured her before they began to bring her aboard. Tai jumped down and called over the noise, "Qrow landed on the ship and ordered them to pick me up on the way."

"Where's Qrow?" Jaune asked.

Tai gave a sad look, "He went to find his friends." The ship took off with no other words spoken. Jaune felt his stomach lurch. The ship flew toward the city in a matter of minutes. Behind him he could hear the light rumble in the cloud cover and the chatter of the ships reang through his scroll as they continued to drive the grim away.

-o-

Qrow only knew he found the correct spot from the scraps of earth that tore apart the forest. He circled once to survey the land. Once on the ground, Qrow closed his eye briefly but did not sense any grim nearby.

 _Shiros' team would have had the training and ability too, for all the good it did them._ Qrow lamented. The huntsman looked up to the sky now clear of trees. _With the forest cover, they likely did not even see that flying grim coming._

Qrow did his best to keep it together as he pulled a ring off Ivy's remains. Her daughter would appreciate the gesture. Qrow looked around as he swallowed the lump in his throat. The grim had been too fast for them. There was not much of a struggle. There was only one person who he was not able to find anything.

"Carmina. I'm sorry."

Qrow could already begin to feel the grim coming. He quickly rubbed his eyes. There would be no chance for burials for their remains. His own grief guaranteed it. Qrow transformed and was already in the air as the first grim started to roam the area.

Qrow took his time to fly back to the city. He needed the time with all the weight of the momentos he carried to his friends families. He trusted that Jaune would see to the living. Hopefully Amber was among them.

-o-

"Girl! Get me out of this!" The man snarled and snapped in the handcuffs that bound his arm and ankle in an unnatural 'o'.

"Ah, I thought you 'had this' Tyrian."

Tyrian chuckled into the dirt. "Oh, I had them. The girl is good as dead. Better than you Cinder."

Cinder frowned and raised the black heart into the air. Aura would do nothing against those cuffs. They would need something stronger. The shadow that enveloped them landed with a gust of air. Cinder smiled and carrased the tip of the beak of the buzzard grim. "Free him for me." She patted the beat affectionately and stepped back.

The grim sniffed and huffed until it found its prey.

Tyrian frowned. "That can see the cuffs right?"

Cinder smiled, "Maybe."

Tyrian tensed as the tip of the beak found the chains that were too small for its mouth and they snapped under its bite. "Ah, finally. Did you get the kid?"

Cinder scowled then consoled the grim as it whimpered out a wooden groan. "No, It was not your fault little one. Those ships were not in the plans."

Tyrian scowled. "Your plans seem to fail a lot."

Cinder closed her eyes for a moment before she opened them. "Let's get back. The ships are probably looking for Gyan here."

The blind buzzard lowered its head and lifted into the air shortly after Cinder gave it the signal to fly.

"Do you think our Lady would be pleased with me?"

Cinder ground her teeth. "If she is dead."

"Good."

-o-

Jaune did not trust anyone as he followed the staff into the hospital. His hand had been firmly planted on the woman's gurney as they ran her into the emergency room.

Jaune exhaled as he felt a firm hand on his shoulder from one of the nurses. "It would be best if you leave kid, this will not look pretty."

Jaune nearly swore at her before he reigned in his attitude. He just reminded himself the doctors just see a kid. He just glared at the practitioner and looked over to the doctor who seemed to realize what he was. Jaune looked the doctor in the eye. "My Vip, my responsibility. I don't leave her side."

"Very well. Please move to the observation room." Jaune walked through a side door and leaned against the glass wall. From here, he could see as the doctor and nurses cleaned the wound and started to sew the gore that used to be several organs. Her aura had already done most of the vital work apparently. The doctor was relieved the damage had already begun to mend on it's own. It was the poison that slowed them down the most. The dosage she took should have killed her.

Three hours later the doctor stood in the room with Jaune to give them an update. "If she was using aura, it may have burned off some of the excess poison when it raised her body temperature. This kind of poison could not stand high amounts of heat. It denatures." Jaune instantly thought of Amber's body engulfed by fire. The doctor went back to check on the patient.

"Qrow's outside." Jaune shook himself from his thoughts as he looked to a scowling Branwen. "They are not letting him in."

Jaune stepped to the door and opened it. He tapped a shoulder of a caregiver that was walking by. "That man is part of my security detail, could you let him in?" The woman looked at the observer room and the woman inside before she nodded and went to fetch Qrow.

Jaune waved both Tai and Qrow to a corner of the observer room. "You Alright Qrow?"

Qrow shook his head. "How's Amber?"

Tai patted his friends shoulder. "She'll make it."

Jaune sighed and rubbed his neck. "I'm sorry for pulling you all into this. I _am_ sorry for your friends Qrow." Jaune looked over to the older man unsure how Qrow felt about his plan and what it cost them.

Qrow kept is eyes planted on Amber. "It's part of the job Jaune. We knew the risks. And as bad as I feel, I want to say thank you for doing your best to keep her alive." Qrow looked at him. "Thank you."

Jaune smiled and looked to the doctor who was waving them in. It appeared it was safe enough to walk in. Qrow took the spot next to her. The nurses didn't seem to mind as they pulled away the operating room equipment to move her.

 _Blip… Blip… Blip…_

Jaune couldn't help but feel comforted by the steady beat of the heart monitor. She was alive and safe. The thought brought up the image of the grim. Of those people who attacked them. More of them would come for her. And there was something else. The massive flying grim and its hunt for them weighed heavy on his mind. He let those thoughts go for a moment as Qrow rushed passed him.

Jaune spared an amused thought, _If only you were awake for this Amber._ Qrow took her hand in his. Amber would have been over the moon to see Qrow now.

Jaune wondered how Ozpin would take all of this. "Hey Tai. What would have happened if those guys were successful? If they had managed to kill Amber? It seems different from the last time we ran into them."

Tai raised his eyebrows into his hair. He crossed his arms while he really thought what it would have meant for the maidens rather than what would happen to his friend. "I think they would have started hunting for the new host. Those people know Amber is protected. Whoever the new person would be, they would have no training and there would be a window where we would have to find them too. The new maiden would have no protection. Salem's agents would find the girl an easy target. I don't think their goal of stealing her powers changed. Just how they went about it."

"The host is chosen at random?" Jaune folded his arms over his chest and tapped a thoughtful finger against his bicep.

Tai nodded. "It was for Amber. She said that her last host had a will to find someone like Amber. But Ozpin said the maidens could choose their successor too if they met certain criteria."

Jaune frowned. Asking Amber if she had a successor… "Did she have a successor?"

"Not that I know of. Ozpin reminded her to look for one just in case."

Jaune let the matter drop even while it sat in the back of his mind. Jaune greeted the doctor as he walked back into the room.

The doctor gave the three men a confident smile. "She may take some time to regain consciousness. But she will make a full recovery."

 _Blip… Blip… Blip…_

Jaune patted Qrow's back. Qrow exhaled a relieved sigh and kept his hands firmly in Amber's. Jaune looked at all of the cables Qrow had to move around to make that simple gesture. Jaune clicked his tongue as a thought occurred to him. "Amber is stable right? There would be no complications to move her?" He needed to make sure.

"Give it a day. I would like to keep her for observation but that would be more for safety." the doctor replied. Qrow relaxed slightly as the doctor added. "Amber just needs some rest. The abdominal muscles were torn and are mending. Traces of the poison still remain in her system. They will stay there for the next few months until it thins. But the poison is inert. So long as she does not exert herself when she wakes, she will make a full recovery. Amber should remain in bed with only slight bouts of exercise for a month weeks. She will tire easy. I'll have the notes ready to be relayed to a doctor of your choice in Vale."

"Thank you Doctor. Before your staff leaves," Jaune gestured to the two nurses that were with him. "What would have been the worst case scenario if she walked in with these injuries?"

 _Blip.. Blip.. Blip…_

Doctor Selphius looked at the young patrolman strangely but humored the question. "With her injuries, had her body not purged much of the poison with her aura, she would have died before we moved to the operating table to look at her stomach."

 _Blip.. Blip.. Blip.. BEEEEP-_

Jaune deliberately let go of the cord to the heart monitor. His fingers flinched at his side when the cord clattered to the ground. Jaune calmly looked to the doctor as Qrow and Tai asked what he was doing. "Let's go with that. The patient is now in protective services. I would like your two aids to be witnesses to her declaration of death. Can you do that?"

The doctor looked to the two older men in the room. They got over their own shock before they two nodded in agreement. The doctor sighed, "Lavender, Call the time of death."

The nurse called the time aloud as she wrote down the time on her tablet. The other nurse cover the woman's face with the blanket that had kept her warm. The doctor ordered Lavender to get the paper work together and stood with Jaune in the room. "Do you have a way to move her?" He asked with an amount of uncertainty.

Jaune exhaled as he really thought of what he was doing. He had only heard this described to him once. "I will need to contact someone. Do you have a place private where I can send a message? It will be to here in Mistral."

The doctor nodded before he started to lead the way.

"Jaune?"

The patrolman looked over his shoulder. "Just stay with her. Don't leave her side for a moment. I'll try and get us transport for tonight. Get ready to move."

Jaune was escorted into a conference room with a long table and a dozen seats. At the head of the table laid a communications terminal.

"It's all yours patrolman. I'll see preparing the body for transport." The doctor offered as he departed the room. Jaune gave the man a terse nod of approval before the man left.

Jaune stared at the contact list in his scroll. He clicked on Ozpins' to send a message unsure what to tell him. _Well he did like chess metaphors…_ _I guess I'm lucky Amber showed me just fancy moves and instead of actually teaching me how to play._ Jaune started to type and hit send.

 **Pawn takes queen,**

 **Promotes to underside rook.**

Jaune set the scroll down. _I'm really doing this…_ When he looked back up he stared at the blank screen. His conflicted gaze stared back at him. _That won't do._ Jaune gave a long frustrated exhale. He squeezed his eyes shut and just let the feeling of hopelessness overcome him. Now that he was safe to process everything he experienced through the day, he felt his eyes sting in frustration. He looked back at the blank screen and clicked the terminal open.

Jaune dialed in a number he had put into his scroll thanks to Ozpin. He had never wanted to speak to this man himself, but he found that this was a blessing in disguise. Jaune knew _he_ had to be the one to sell the lie.

The man on the other side of the line had a brown graying beard that tapered around his face and into his hair. He was an older man but not as old as Ozpin. "Leonardo Lionhart?"

The man sputtered but nodded. "Who are you?"

Jaune paused as he tried to channel his anger and rage away from his face. He needed to sell Amber's death. "Jaune Arc. Is this a secure line?"

The man paused to look from his end and eventually nodded. "It is now. Where are you now?"

Jaune shook his head. "We are back at Port Strand. We were attacked and Amber is dead."

The man gasped and gripped his table. "Was anyone else killed?"

Jaune nodded. "We lost a few people. I am calling Ozpin right after this, but I need you to book us a flight out of the country now to move Amber's remains."

Leonardo looked dazed for a moment but he eventually registered what Jaune was saying. "I'll see to it. How soon?"

Jaune ground his teeth. "Now. The sooner the better. I had to call in the local support to drive off a grim. It's better that they don't interview me and start asking questions why a Valian Patrolman is in Mistral."

Leo understood. "You will have it in half an hour. The airfield landing four is Haven Academy's official transport In Port Strand. You can use that."

Jaune thanked the man but before he could close the line, Leo offered. "I am sorry for your loss."

Jaune nearly allowed himself a sharp inhale at the condolences. He simply nodded at the terminal before he closed it. Jaune leaned back and blinked back tears as his body shook. When he looked at the turned off screen, his reflection glared back at him.

-o-

When Jaune came back to the room, he found Tai and Qrow stare blankly at the metal case that had arrived with some suspicion. Jaune looked at the doctor and realized what it was. It was made to transport a dead body.

"Can we wake her? Even if it's for a few minutes?"

"I can try, there is no guarantee even if she wakes that she will be coherent."

Jaune nodded and the doctor went to inject something into Amber's IV drip. Jaune was relieved when Amber grunted in pain and fluttered her eyes mere moments later. Qrow hovered over her, his hand firmly in hers. He kissed her knuckles so relieved to see her awake. Amber groggily looked around.

"Qrow?" She grunted. Amber hissed and tilted her head back onto the pillow as her nerves began to feel everything.

The doctor moved forward. He raised her eyelids around her flinched and annoyed look. The doctor nodded to Jaune before he stepped back.

"Amber." Jaune walked up and placed a hand on her bed. "How do you feel?"

Amber inhaled sharply as she looked at Jaune. Her eyes widened as it dawned on her, "I'm alive…" She leaned back. She sniffed slightly and nodded before she looked at Qrow and Tai. Qrow kept her hand firmly against his lips. She sighed at the comforting action tingled. "Happy we made it." Amber groaned slightly from a sharp pain as she touched her stomach.

"I am sorry, but we need to transport you. But you are not able to stay awake for long." Jaune looked to the doctor.

"You will be transported by aircraft back to Vale, but you need your rest. After the aircraft is in the air, you will need to take this medicine to put yourself under. It would be necessary to sleep for a while anyway. But this will make the trip easier. There is one thing you should be aware off…"

Jaune interrupted him. "We can't just move your body in a gurney the entire time. We'll be placing you in a movable bed." Jaune lied through his teeth. Amber could not identify the looks Qrow and Tai spared towards Jaune as he made her focus on his words. Jaune would ask for forgiveness later. He did not want to panic her when she was just recovering and possible endanger her own protection.

Qrow added, "I'll be with you the entire time if you do happen to wake up. We just don't want you to panic if you wake up to find yourself in a strange bed and strapped down."

Amber muttered, "Okay…" Her speech slurred as she tried to focus on Jaune. "I need to tell you som-" her hand relaxed in Qrows' as she fell back asleep. Qrow relaxed slightly at the touch of her warm hand in his and nodded to the others.

The doctor stepped forward one more time with bottle in his hand. "This is a simple pain reliever for her. It will knock her out for a long time. Have her looked at by a doctor you can trust in Vale." Jaune thanked them before the two nurses lifted Amber's body by the blankets underneath her and lowered her into what Jaune could only call a casket. The bed was a metal case lined with a soft mattress and padded foam. The nurses tucked in the blanket and removed the last of her connections to the medical equipment.

"She is ready to be moved." Said one nurse.

"Good luck." offered the other as he moved the bed sheet to cover her face.

Jaune thanked the doctor before the two nurses escorted them to the roof.

Jaune was a little disturbed how easy it was to move a 'dead body' around without anyone taking notice. Qrow in his bird form laid next to her as she was strapped to a gurney with a white sheet to cover her body and moved to a bullhead. It was not uncommon for patients who died to have strict instructions on what to do with their bodies. Huntsmen were very peculiar of where they want to be buried if someone could recover a body.

In the bullhead, the pilot flew the group to the air landing near the sea port. Not even twenty minutes passed before the group loaded Amber's sleeping body into the ship and closed the hatch for take off in the dead of night. The ship was far larger than anything Jaune had ever been in. It was made to transport a hundred people over the sea at high speeds.

Once the gurney was strapped into the anchors of the aircraft floor, Jaune buckled into a seat next to Tai. Jaune took in the older man's disappointed look. "What are you thinking about Tai?"

Tai shook his head as he looked away from Qrow's bird form sleeping next to Amber's head. "This is a mess. What's next?" Tai gestured with his head to Amber.

Jaune leaned back in his chair. "She's my responsibility. I'll speak to Ozpin. I already know what I need to do. But the how? I am flying in the dark myself."

Jaune lifted his finger to his lips for a moment that they shouldn't say more.

Tai released a frustrated groan before he leaned back in his chair and tried to get some sleep. It was a long flight home.

-o-

The airship was faster than Jaune had expected. The overhead intercom said they had a good wind, and were able to save just under half an hour off the seven hour flight. When the group landed, Tai took ahold of the bed handles to push her out. Jaune took the lead onto the tarmac.

It was Ozpin himself that greeted the group when they pulled Amber's bed off the airship. His face was grim. "Where's Qrow?"

Tai gave the older man a smile before he gestured to the bed where a black bird sat sleeping next to Amber's face. Ozpin took a moment to stare at her still breathing form before he exhaled in relief. "Let's go. We can talk on the Gale."

The Gale was actually a ship Jaune had never seen before. It was twice as large as a normal bullhead with heavy armor and luxury seats. Jaune had looked around when he first boarded. There were far fewer seats in the ship than the size suggested. Ten seats were barely behind the pilot.

Ozpin looked to Jaune with some expectation.

Jaune looked to the two pilots. "Is it safe?"

Ozpin smiled. "Yes. Please tell me. What happened?"

During the explanation Qrow had awoken and added what he saw with the woman and how she controlled the grim. Ozpin humm'ed to himself. "If she was able to hold a grim's heart then it was from an ancient grim. It bled grim?"

Qrow shuddered. "Yeah. It was disturbing. I also have to add something else I didn't mention before."

Ozpin looked towards the pilot. He gestured for the pilots to make another circle around Beacon. "What is it?"

"The girl saw me transform."

"I see. But it was necessary. They will look for you now. Suffice it to say, your days observing have come to an end."

"I'm sorry." Qrow looked towards the floor.

Jaune scratched his cheek. "I was actually going to ask you to do a job if Ozpin would allow it."

The group looked to the patrolman. Jaune confessed, "I am unable to provide twenty four hour security for Amber once we find a safe place for her to live. I said protective custody to the doctor. But we don't have the authority to place her through Vale police custody. And frankly I wouldn't be comfortable if we did. We need someone who can be with her for the foreseeable future." Jaune looked at Qrow.

Qrow exhaled a laugh through his nose. "Twist my arm already. I'll do it." He glanced to Ozpin with an apologetic shrug.

"By all means. It is up to Amber if she would be willing to stay hidden. For her safety she may agree, but she has shown a reluctance to stay in one place."

"I'll speak with her Oz." Qrow affirmed.

"Then I may have a place you can stay, but it will be up to you to make a living of it."

"Where?"

Ozpin smiled and signaled the pilots to land. Ozpin ignored the question and asked, "Is there anything we need to do for Amber before you two depart again?" Qrow shook his head. "Then I guess this is where we part ways. Tai, Jaune, say your goodbyes. I need to speak with the pilots."

Jaune stood up as the ship landed. He added for Tai's and Qrow's benefit, "It's best we don't know where you go Qrow. Good luck."

"Thanks Jaune. Tai? Can you do me a favor?"

Tai knew what he wanted and reached for Qrow's bag. "There are a few affects from my friends to give to their families. I would have left them with a friend in town, but we did not have the time. I just need you to ship them for me."

"I will."

"Qrow?" Jaune frowned as he looked over towards Ozpin. The pilots laughed at something he had said, Jaune looked back to the older man. "Can you tell her I'm sorry when she wakes up? Oh, and tell her, her secret is safe with me. I'll take responsibility."

Now Qrow was curious. "What secret?"

Jaune smiled but shook his head. "She'll know what I'm talking about."

"What should I tell the girls?" Tai wondered aloud.

"I would leave it alone. I've disappeared for long periods of time before. I'll give you a call when I am able."

Ozpin added helpfully, "You will not get too many opportunities where you are going. You seem awfully willing to walk away from your life Qrow."

Qrow looked at Amber while she slept. "I don't mind."

-o-

Ozpin, Jaune and Tai stood in the headmaster's office. The three looked at the morning skyline. By now, Amber's and Qrow's ship will be far higher than any grim could possibly fly. Ozpin observed his patrolman. His calm voice snapped Jaune out of his thoughts. "You were given a hard job Mr. Arc."

Jaune swallowed. "Yes sir."

Ozpin set his coffee cup down on his desk. He could feel Tai's eyes on him. In truth, Jaune had surprised him at every turn. He could be honest enough to admit he expected Jaune to look for Amber for at least a month. Not the week it took to find her. Jaune even showed he could protect her from Salem's pawns. And as much as it would pain Jaune to admit, the patrolman's plan worked.

Ozpin knew the look Jaune wore. Jaune had the face of someone who failed his job.

"I am both thankful and relieved to have hired you Jaune."

Jaune's eyes widened and he turned to the headmaster. He schooled his expression. But the shock was still there. Ozpin gave an amused laugh. "Did you think I would have reprimanded you for not getting the outcome we expected?"

Jaune clenched his jaw and simply shook his head. Words seemed to have escaped him. Tai looked at the boy and sighed at his former teacher.

"Jaune. Amber is safe. You have confirmed-" Ozpin paused as he thought of Leo. "Confirmed that we had a traitor among us. You have given us something I thought we no longer had. We have time. Salem will waste years now looking for the next maiden. Thank you."

Jaune felt the lump pressed against his throat and could only nodd. "Over the rest of the summer, I will brief you on everything that I am able about the people you fought these past few weeks. For now, take the week off. Go reconnect with your friends and family. There will be more days like the one you had today. Our job will be to make sure they are few and far between."

"Yes sir." Jaune bade the two a good morning and let the lift to go to the ground level close.

Tai rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. He was reluctant to bring it up. "I know I've never really been apart of the whole Salem fight. But what will you do now? You lost Qrow."

Ozpin wanted to bring up he lost more than just Qrow. Leo, Amber, the support they may have had in Mistral left when Qrow parted and Leo no longer trusted. It was down to simply Glynda and James with their connections.

"I was not lying when I said Jaune bought us time. It will be time I will use to reconnect with the school. It has been too long since I've walked the halls with my students. With no way to track a maiden, Salem will be forced to look elsewhere. The spring maiden has been missing for years. Without our support, I am not sure Leo would be able to find her. And the others… They have been living safe lives for years in anonymity. It was unfortunate that Amber had manifested her powers in such a public setting to make herself known as a maiden."

Ozpin felt himself trail off and he shook his head. "Thank you for your help Tai. It could not have been easy to see all this again."

Tai crossed his arms. "It's fine. It did remind me why I left though."

Ozpin could not repress the smile at the hint. "Rest assured I would not ask anything else of you. Thank you again."

Tai laughed. "I should go, I have a few errands I need to do before I go home." Tai sobered up and picked up Qrow's bag.

-o-

Amber grunted against the sunlight. Her eyebrows furrowed as she slowly roused. The last few times she awoke was a blur. Whatever she took knocked her out and every time she tried to wake up, an exhausted grogginess over took her before she fell back asleep. She vaguely remembered laying in a bed with Qrow sleeping next to her head. She was sure it was his feathers that woke her up the first time. The other times, she remember Qrow talking to someone above her.

Happy that there was no longer a feeling of exhaustion when she woke up, Amber finally looked around. That did not last long. She leaned back in her pillows. Her abs were killing her.

Amber ran her hand over her stomach and felt the bandages that wrapped her torso. The drugs did not fully clear out of her system since she knew how slow she turned her head to look around the room. Where ever she was, the ocean was nearby. The sounds of the gulls and the ocean waves told her as much.

"You're awake." Amber smiled at Qrow as he walked in. She let him look over her and take her hand. The rest of the day was a joy aside from the embarrassing moment where she needed help going to the bathroom. Her body was not quite strong enough to sit fully up to her own.

Amber found herself laying in bed for the rest of the day. Qrow did his best to explain what had happened.

"I was declared dead." Amber had mixed feelings about that. She had always valued her freedom. She knew years ago that there would be a danger for doing as she pleased. And it cost Qrow a few of his friends. She was not sure what he asked. "I'm sorry Qrow, what was that?"

Qrow stopped what he was saying to run a hand against her cheek. She leaned into it. "Amber. It's a lot. I know. We are in a nice little village. Very remote."

"Show me?" Amber asked. Qrow leaned forward. Amber eeped as he moved his arms under her back and legs. She moved her arms around his neck once she knew what he wanted. Outside she gasped at the view of the blue ocean. Where every place she had ever visited had defenses against grim. This island was nothing but villagers standing in shallows with pikes to kill fish. Amber could only think it was a paradise if there were never any grim.

"Jaune said he was sorry for making it look like you died. He also said that your secret is safe with him. He'll take responsibility." Qrow let the last bit out as a question.

Amber head snapped up quickly to him. She looked every bit as vulnerable as she felt since she had been poisoned. She trembled in his arms before she realized Qrow had no clue what Jaune was talking about. _So Jaune figured it out._ Amber lamented. _I'm sorry Jaune._

Amber leaned into the crook of Qrow's neck. She knew she confused Qrow as she hiccupped and sniffed. She just hug his neck harder. "Is it ok?" She teared against his collarbone. "Is it ok to not to feel guilty?" It gnawed at her that all she could feel was relief.

Qrow kissed the top of her head and held her as close as he could. Amber simply cried. Qrow murmured to the top of her head, "Our fight is over. Let's enjoy our retirement."

Amber sniffed and nodded her head against his shoulder. Qrow nearly missed it as she whispered, "I love you."

-o-

Jaune had to laugh at himself. He could not keep anything from Coco. It only took her a glance at him over the scroll to see he needed some company. Jaune would have protested that she come over to his apartment on Beacon if he wasn't so tired. The bandages around his ribs and forearm ached whenever he twisted or turned too fast.

"Hey Stable Boy." Coco called. Jaune opened the door and took her in with a single look. She must have come immediately from her part time job. He had never seen her in a skirt before. Coco smirked and raised an edge of her skirt in a curtsy. "May I come in?" She swung the hem back and forth.

Jaune laughed as he made room for her. Coco smiled as she walked in and closed the door behind herself. She spread her arms out and Jaune opened his to hug her. It was a truly surreal moment when he realized he was back home and safe. It took his breath. Coco didn't seem to mind that he froze in her embrace and just held on tighter. Jaune was not sure how long it took him to relax but he finally did and Coco sighed against his ear.

Coco smiled as she stepped back. "That's better." She winked at him as she walked further into his apartment. Coco glanced back and forth around his home. "It's a lot larger than my team's room."

"That's because it was made for a family of four." Jaune laughed as she tensed. She immediately resumed the tour. Jaune had found out early that there were far more personel that lived in Beacon at any given time than there were students. If there was an allowance for restaurants and stores, Beacon could qualify as its own private city.

Coco dropped on the couch and rotated her ankles. "My feet are killing me. You would think with how hard we are on our bodies, standing all day wouldn't be so hard."

Jaune sat down next to her. "Scoot over and lean back. Give me your feet. I can actually help with that." Jaune saw the two flat soles rest on his legs. He quickly slipped them off. Apparently she went to work in them without socks. Coco only flinched once as he touched the arch of her foot. He glanced over and winked at her embarrassed shrug.

"I've done this for my eldest sister a few times when she started waiting." Coco took a while to relax with his warm hands on her feet. But eventually Jaune felt he had a small victory for the slight sigh he got when he stroked the ankle down to the heel.

In the long comfortable silence that followed, Jaune eventually slowed his massage and seemed content to rub them for contact rather than the massage he had intended. Coco wiggled her toes as she murmured, "Thanks Jaune."

Jaune realized he was just staring at the ceiling. When he followed Coco's feet to her face she returned the look with a satisfied glint in those dark almond eyes. Jaune found he couldn't meet her gaze and turned away. Coco shoulders shook out of the corner of his eye. They were the only indicator that she laughed as she muffled it well. She pulled her bare feet off his lap and sat closer to him. She rested her head on his shoulder. "Jaune, you don't have to talk about it. I'm just here to keep you occupied."

Jaune felt her relax against him. Jaune wondered how that made him so relax after sitting still for so long. "Thanks. And you're right. I need to be distracted for a bit." Jaune found his gaze resting on his guitar propped against a chair. Coco followed his line of sight and smiled against his shoulder.

"When's the last time I sang you a song?"

Coco let Jaune go as he stood up and picked up the guitar. Instead of sitting back down next to her, he took a knee and knelt in front of her just like he did back in the old tavern at The Houses. He watched as she smiled to the tune of the song. It was a song he had been practicing since he found out the title. And judging from her smile that crinkled her eyes, she knew it too.

"Is that?"

"Yeah. It's the song from that music box. It's called a Love's Eve in Winter." Coco wiggled in her seat and waited. Jaune enjoyed her indulged look as he paused the song, "It's too bad the song is so old that there are no lyrics for it."

Coco slumped in her chair. It was one of the few times he had ever seen her pout. Jaune took the moment to just look at her with a smile that grew on his face. He noted Coco's quick gasp when she finally caught him doing it.

Shy would not be a word Jaune felt he could describe Coco. But she gave a tentatively shy smile back. Jaune looked back to his guitar and started the song again with a quicker beat and sang,

 _The night's so cold…_

 _The hearth goes dark…_

 _Your hand touched mine,_

 _My only spark,_

 _You're my only warmth_

 _In this closed off winter…_

Jaune looked up to see her smile and bite her lip. He almost lost his part in the song before felt his lips curl into the traces of a smile as he focused on her eyes.

 _A smile, a laugh,_

 _The time it flies_

 _The fire burns red_

 _And then it dies_

 _When a summer goes_

 _to an ending winter._

The song ran through his fingers as he felt how right Amber was. He shouldn't waste any time. Amber and Qrow worked out in the end. But there was no guarantee that he would work out with Coco. There was no guarantee that he would live long enough to wait and try either.

Jaune stood and stepped back to gesture Coco to stand as well. Jaune swayed while Coco swung her arms in a dance. He continued to play his guitar between them.

 _From morning sun_

 _To evening dusk_

 _I'll never feel cold_

 _From your touch_

If it was just Amber in a confused moment begging for Jaune and Coco not to turn out like her and Qrow, Jaune may have just waited a bit longer. There were lines in his song that should have been saved for when he felt more confident in his relationship with Coco. But then Amber made a mistake. In those moments where she thought she was going to die, and when she woke up and realized she didn't, Amber was unable to hide why she was sorry. There was only one reason why she would apologize for anything on what could have been her deathbed. It was because Amber knew who she willed the next maiden to be.

And in the end, that is what made him so willing to sing to Coco. Because he never wanted a world where Coco would know what he had gone through. What he will go through. Ozpin was right, Jaune only bought some time. It was up to him to figure out on how to make the most of it.

Coco got impatient and placed her hand against his in the middle of a note. She looked up to him for a moment unable to voice what she thought. Instead, she helped him slide the guitar and strap off his shoulder and rested the instrument on the couch. Coco still seemed unsure what she wanted to say. Instead, she leaned close with her arms wrapped around his neck.

The two danced in the silence. Jaune found himself drawn to her and their lips met somewhere in the middle. Coco grinned and leaned into his neck as they moved back and forth. Jaune sang against her ear,

 _My heart, your beat,_

 _one in the same…_

 _My hand in yours_

 _will never wane_

And with a vow for a lifetime he sang:

 _Hold you close in my arms,_

 _As I say,_

 _I'll._

 _protect._

 _you._

A/N: Got this done way ahead of what I thought I would! At first it looked like this story as going to be way too short, then way too long. And somehow it came out where I am trying to get these stories to match up.

The song here was inspired by a lot of Maroon 5 for those who are curious. On a stupid note, Five chapters in, and I just noticed that FFN formatted the songs in double spaced lines... Those are supposed to be single spaced for those songs.

Gyan is based on a Hindi folk tale about a blind buzzard who trusted a cat and got blamed when the cat ate the baby birds the buzzard was protecting. Gyan is a translation of the wisdom in Hindi.


	6. Chapter 6 The Herald

Jaune watched the dance floor as the music finally died. Junior's was not usually a rave club, but every friday and saturday the place had always been more 'Pleasure' than 'Business'. After coming here nearly nightly for the last three weeks to establish himself, Jaune felt he could finally stop showing up on these pointless nights. Maybe he could finally go to sleep before midnight.

Jaune scanned the area one more time and was surprised that a lot of what he would normally see was absent on nights like these. Junior and most of his men were rarely seen and the twins were regulated to waitresses.

Jaune was disappointed the first night he showed up without his hoodie to hide his face. Apparently the twins knew who he was right away. No words were spoken, but the glass of milk he was served along with his drink made him laugh.

Jaune heard before he spotted Coco. She laughed and waved to him. She graced him with an amused smile like he was her next victim. Jaune looked behind her to see Coco had Velvet firmly in hand. The poor girl was bright as a tomato.

Jaune looked over to the dance floor as Coco gave him an expectant raise of an eyebrow. Jaune gave himself an internal groan. It was unfortunate that Coco liked the place. Jaune lamented that days away from this place were likely going to be an impossibility.

"Jaune! Dance with me." Coco didn't wait for an answer before he was pulled up by his hands and carted away. Fox and Yatsu cheered the two on. Jaune placed his hands on Coco's hips as she leaned her back against his chest. At the very least, some of the time he spent here would be enjoyable.

The night wound down not too long afterwards. Jaune was reluctant to let go of Coco when she kissed him and entered the Beacon Dorms. Their team was a few days early, but the dorms had already opened for any returning students for a week now. Coco's team would start their classes in just under ten days.

-o-

"Along with the first staff meeting of the year…" Jaune thought aloud as he turned on the lamp on his desk. He would have tomorrow to catch up on sleep, so he had little excuse to go over some more work before bed.

The patrolman exhaled and looked at the pile of papers that sat on his desk. "I really need to ask for some help if they are loading this much on me." While in Anvil, Jaune had always helped with the paperwork. Now that he was by himself, he found he missed being a helper rather than the one doing all the work to be checked over later. It was nearing two in the morning when Jaune closed his planner and rubbed his eyes. It was different things from what he knew for sure, but it was still paperwork.

Teachers from all three grade levels sent request for him to be available for students interviews, lecturers about different parts of civilian life outside the walls and so on. Jaune had to remember the majority of the people in any country live in the cities. It was rare to see a stable settlement outside of those borders. Ones like Anvil that had the advantage and systems in place to exceed the population limits to have its own port were even more of an anomaly.

Over the summer months Ozpin had found duties for Jaune to keep the young man busy outside of the academy. As an added benefit, Ozpin was able to pay the teen more as well.

That included the secondary title 'Special Lecturer', Jaune traveled frequently to Vale to lecture about investigation methods he had used in the few prominent investigations he had participated in as well as emergency services procedures in critical failures and what was more important to the headmaster, how to work along with huntsmen. Glynda had even asked him to speak to later year classes about his role on the frontier earlier that spring. Jaune had agreed to all of the requests.

Juane felt fulfilled in the new work. It was such a rapid and welcomed departure from his time protecting Amber. There were only two points of contention and he knew they would always be long term projects and likely unresolved cases. The arrest of Neo and the capture and arrest of Amber's assailants. Thankfully she is under the protection of Qrow who was more than happy to keep her where ever the hell the two were. Jaune did receive an update two weeks ago via Ozpin. They both seemed happy.

Jaune allowed a smile at the thought of the couple. With the girl's faked death, Jaune informed Junior to spread the information that a member of the staff of Beacon had been killed. That had been what prompted Jaune to spend so many nights at the club. There had been a wealth of information to learn. Not from eaves dropping either. Jaune simply watched how deals were made. Whose face was who's. And if he was lucky, what they dealt in and where they based their operations in. The nights allowed his face to become familiar to them as well. A face they were familiar with was one they could dismiss as background noise after all.

-o-

Jaune sat back and gave Melanie a thankful nod at the drink for not being milk the very next night. Jaune felt excited for being called by Junior. It meant the man has some information. Jaune rarely showed up on a sunday night. The patrolman casually looked around the place. It was largely empty but for a few people who took to booths to share quiet moments with their companions.

The staff seemed to take this as a clean over day. Most of the men in suits were cleaning the tables on the various floors. Jaune smiled at the idea of the illustrious Red Tie Gang running around as cleaners in the actual word rather than the _other_ kind of cleaners based on what he has heard.

This was a visit Jaune had expected for a while now. The patrolman set his drink down when he noticed Junior walk out of the back and purposefully towards his table.

"Good evening Junior." Jaune greeted with a confident smile.

Junior took off his shades and gestured to the chair, "May I sit?"

"Of course."

"Just a short follow up for your request from a month ago."

Juane took out his scroll and transferred the money as Junior sent over the files. It cost him what would have been a years worth of wages as a patrolman of Anvil. It was not as big of a dent now. Jaune would just have to make a small sacrifice and eat instant food for the coming month. But it was worth it.

"Thank you. I'll let you know if I find anything else Junior."

Junior gave an amused laughed as he stood up and put his shades back on. "You always do bring in the most interesting characters Jaune."

Jaune mouth turned to a grim line as he opened the file on his scroll. "Tyrian Callows. Finally. A name to the face." The picture of the scorpion faunus smiled back. At the bottom of the list of crimes was the one that Jaune wanted to make sure was imprinted for anyone who looked.

 **First Order Bounty - Wanted for the murder of a Professor of Beacon Academy (Name sealed)**

It was effectively a black mark and a warning. Anyone looking for some lien could turn in information for the most recent sightings. Outright murder of a huntsman was seriously frowned upon. Fights, rivalries, and arrests were common when a huntsman got involved, death while rare, happened as well. But to actively hunt and kill a huntsman was tantamount to suicide. These particular murders draw unwanted attention on everyone. Jaune wouldn't need to pay to ask if Tyrian was in Vale. People will talk about it openly. Jaune closed the scroll and took a sip of his drink.

"That's one down. Now how to track the others?"

Jaune looked at the time and noticed a missed message that blipped on his screen. Coco must be bored or restless to message him this late on a Sunday. Classes would not start for her for another week, but she still worked in the mornings. He glanced at the message and closed it. He would reply when it was safe to do so. It was only a simple goodnight. Coco had already said goodnight two hours ago, but it seemed she had stayed up late.

-o-

Jaune walked into the Beacon conference room Monday morning. A quick glance confirmed that most of the heads of staff were already present. He always thought the school would just have a meeting of teachers. But the meetings were actually with every head that ran the school. Jaune looked around to the seventeen teachers that taught across three grades and vocations. Mixed into the seats were Head Chef, Beacon Flight Control, Housekeeping, Dust Supply, the professors, the representative from the Vale Council, Mr. Mezla and at last, himself as the local Patrolman.

Jaune nodded to Lune, the Head Chef. He was the only one of his chefs that could make a decent onion tart. They shared a few stories when Jaune found that Lune used to train under Phil in Central Anvil. Jaune smiled thinking, _It was probably the only reason he could make decent food._

Jaune looked up to the headmaster who stood at the front sans-coffee cup. "Thank you all for joining us. The start of the new term will be upon us soon and with it the preparations for the Vytal festival. Please be sure to submit any special requests for the events by this time Friday. Attached to each of your portfolio's is your departments confirmed budget for the year. If you have any emergencies budget request please direct your questions to Glynda."

Jaune looked at the vice headmistress. Her unexpressive eyes settled across the staff. "A helpful reminder that security requests and disciplinary actions can be forwarded to our patrolman Jaune Arc if you are unable to personally oversee detentions."

Jaune waved at the group. "My scroll contact is in your files under 'Lecturer'. Just to let you know, if you do forward your students to me, the detentions will be more physical punishments."

There were a few laughs at that.

"Keep it up Jaune, and we'll be sending remedial trainees to you too."

"I don't think your students would appreciate the extra detention for not winning in class Glynda." Several more laughs rounded the group as the meeting went on to other matters. Jaune leaned back in his chair as he went through the folder. Nothing really jumped out at him. He had been aware that there was a festival, and he had to speak to a representative of Atlas to understand the scope of the security needed for the event. It was why he had started the summer lectures with Vale PD about working with huntsmen. Atlas, as a formal military, includes military police. They have no civilian police force. Jaune brought his concerns to Ozpin who pointed out they had similar problems the previous years but the security was usually handled by huntsmen. It was only this past year that the council started making demands that police not huntsmen provide security.

There was still a debate on who will run security for the event. Jaune had a sinking suspicion that Ozpin was championing himself. Which was why Jaune had been studying how every Vytal festival was run in the last four decades. Just the thought of it made him yawn.

"If that is all, good luck to you all on your first day ladies and gentlemen." Ozpin leaned back in his char as he closed his file. There was a rumble of chairs as everyone stood up at the dismissal.

-o-

Jaune stood up and stretched his legs inside the bullhead. He left the port early in the morning, but he knew that he got the alert late judging how quickly Atlas had already been said to be on site.

Jaune eyed the stationary train from the air. The air ship engines hummed down to a low hiss and Jaune walked up to the edge of the open bullhead hatch as the ship landed. The train was a double wide that took both sets of tracks to transport its cargo. Jaune's eyes had been following the behemoth as the ship flew around to land near the front. Trains like these operated more by momentum than by defenses. Three hundred carts would obliterate any grim in its path and the wake currents of the train were enough to defend the train from most flying grim. The crew was a paltry seven engineers to minimize the threat of attraction people would bring.

Jaune had seen trains like these as they passed when he looked off the cliffs of the Anvil Plateau but he had never seen one up close. The engine was five times as large as a bullhead. Jaune took a moment to admire it before he heard an engineer call him.

"Over here Mr. Arc!"

Jaune followed the onsite train engineer to the engine cart and up the steps into what could best be described as an office. "Thank you for coming Mr. Arc. As soon as the Atlas military showed up we were not sure what we could do."

"I'll speak to them. Do you have any security footage of the fight?"

"Not per say, we have heat signature readings to warn us of an intruder. They landed on top of cart two hundred and seventeen and ran towards the engine side. They stopped at cart ninety three and entered the cart."

"What was in it?"

"It was the security detail cart. All automated robots from Atlas. The intruders were practiced fighters. They made our robots look like puppets."

Jaune tapped his finger on the railing. "Where did they go afterwards?"

"No where. They stayed in the cart and the one following."

Jaune paused his finger and gripped the railing as he hopped over it and down the steps and outside. "The security cart is on the decoupled side right?" Jaune asked over his shoulder.

"Yeah." The engineer took his time making his way to the exit and started down the stairs. "If you want to see it, I can get the bullhead to make another pass. It's doing a grim patrol around the train right now to make sure they don't come too close."

"Have them pick you up and meet me on the other side. I want to see the rail too. I'll run ahead."

The engineer looked around confused by the time he was out of the train. Jaune's brown hoodie and blue vest were already out of sight.

The quicker he could get that train off the tracks, the faster the rest of Vale's transportation services could get up and running. The five hours after the robbery had already pushed the shipment industry back by days.

A seven minute run allowed him to finally see the decouple carts. Jaune felt like he could marvel at the mass of metal for hours when he thought how far they had to travel on a daily basis. Several silhouettes stood on top of the lead cart.

"I am Jaune Arc, Patrolman." He announced himself. Fifteen heavily armored guards in silver and white coats lowered their weapons. Jaune recognized a huntsman among the group only by their weapon which was a modified rifle. He pulled out his scroll and extended it to them. The huntsman laughed and jumped down.

"Patrolman. Thank you." The woman took the scroll and did a single glance before she gave it back. She turned back to her crew. "Let the man up." The clank of a metal ladder rung against one of the oversized metallic wheels.

Jaune quickly climbed the ladder to the decouple cart and saw the the metal for the cart latch was still there. Someone made a clean slice through the metal made to haul thousands of tonnes of stress. That would make it harder to just reconnect them. He would have to leave that to the engineers. It looks like it would be a week of delays, not just the hours he first thought.

"I should probably go grocery shopping sooner rather than later…" The delay would affect everything now, not just the Atlas railway.

"You probably shouldn't say that out loud when you get back into Vale. People will panic." The huntsman added helpfully.

Jaune grimaced. "Sorry I didn't ask for your name."

The huntsman waved a hand of no concern. "I didn't offer it. Magen. I didn't realize Vale had a patrolman."

"Just started the assignment three months ago. I was stationed up in Anvil before then."

The woman smiled as she nodded her head. "I thought I heard the name before." She looked back to the cart connectors. "Single strike at the weakest part of the connectors. Who ever did it studied the trains before they boarded. It would take a strong blow to cut through the metal but not as strong as you would think at this point."

"Am I allowed to ask what was on board?"

The woman laughed. "Atlas tech. And that's all you are getting out of me."

Jaune nodded. He was familiar with how Atlas worked in Vale. "I assume you already moved everything from the crime scene."

Magen shrugged helplessly. "As soon as we got the word we had to clean up. A lot of sensitive stuff was strewn about."

Jaune scratched his head and then asked. "Anything taken?"

"Nothing. It was like the intruders popped up, trashed the place to say they could do it and then left."

Jaune started walking down the cart and around several latched down crates. On the third cart he walked inside and looked at the impact dents on the ground. He followed them to the center of the cart where they stopped. He looked up and noticed a metal pod latched into place with some damage pockmarks strewn across it. It looked like it was missing pieces. "That was the security detail?"

Magen nodded. "Among others. That was the only one that survived. And probably because it was the only thing sturdy enough to survive. The seventh cart down is trashed and we may have to jettison it from the railway to reconnect the good carts. Might actually have to do that for the first one you saw too."

Jaune smiled. "So I may still get some fresh apples tomorrow." He hopefully added aloud.

Magen laughed. "Probably not."

"Do you know how long Atlas takes from planning to actual enroute transport? I want to know what kind of window the intruders had to plan for this."

Magen shook her head. "Nope but I can ask for you. I'm sorry to say Atlas wants to hush it up rather than investigate what happened. We were moving automated droids to help the border of Vale against the grim. Any negative news fed to the people at large is never a good idea."

"Don't I know it." Jaune smiled thinking of what they had to do in Anvil to ward off the spawning of grim on the plateau. Jaune scratched his head. "It's going to be an all day walk through then. Sit tight. I am calling our Huntsmen to do a pass. I also would like to talk to the engineers when they come in by bullhead. If intruders did not take anything, they may have left something to be pulled into Vale. This train isn't moving until we know for sure."

Magen flinched. "My commander isn't going to like that."

"Tell him I don't like unknown material entering my city." Jaune waved a hand as he walked with another guard to the carts farther behind.

Magen groaned. "His city he says." Her C.O. is not going to like this.

-o-

 _I'm not making it tonight, maybe tomorrow? Go grocery shopping before tomorrow. It will get expensive in a few days._

Jaune closed his scroll after he sent the message to Coco. It had already been ten hours and the sun was setting against the mountain ridge. He nodded to a engineer who had just turned on a generator to power the flood lights. Several more huntsmen were pulled from Beacon while Jaune had walked through the inventory and the train carts looking for clues. It was during one of these passes that Magen received a quick message from one of her soldiers.

"Issue?"

"No. I just need to look at something at the back cart."

Jaune nodded as he looked over to the engineer nearest to him. "I'll be right back. I'll go with you Magen."

"If it's about cart three-twelve, we have an issue Mr. Arc." Jaune looked over to two of huntsmen he called from Beacon. Midori crossed his arms and glared at the two guards that went to speak to their leader on the cart.

"What's the issue?" Jaune looked over to Magen for an answer.

Midori grunted out, "They refuse to let us inspect the cart."

"That's not necessary," Magen answered quickly. "Atlas higher ups said that I am not allowed to have you go back there. The intruders did not see fit to go back that far, and are not important to your investigation."

Jaune frowned. "I beg to differ, the sensors on the train only saw them after they breached a cart. We saw several impact landings on the top of trailer two eighty four. It's not in the realm of impossibility for them to go back that far. Open it up and let us do our job."

"Don't make me argue over this Jaune. I have strict orders to not let anyone enter."

Jaune sighed. "And I have a duty to protect Vale. This train does not move until I enter in there and inspect it personally. No other men. But it needs to be looked at. I'll take responsibilitly and sign a non-disclosure agreement if I need to. Or you can bring in both of our higher ups. Good luck with that. That can take until tomorrow afternoon, by which Vale _will_ know something more happened than a train stopped on the tracks."

Magen gave him a real glare before she waved her hand for him to follow. Several soldiers followed along with the two huntsmen. Jaune could tell what cart it was only because the stand off between the two groups around the cart.

Jaune looked over to Midori. "Is this the last one?"

"Yeah." Midori leveled a determined look at Magen. "Once it's clear, we can move the train."

Magen sighed before she to order the groups to back off. The Atlas military and Jaune climbed up to the entrance of the cart and walked in. Jaune took three steps in and leveled a flat look at Magen.

"Who is she?"

The girl was bound in handcuffs behind her back. She was shivering and her arm was dark blue.

Magen scowled but gave up after a moment. "She was found in the wreckage of the security droids."

"She been unconscious this entire time?"

Magen nodded. "We have been trying to rouse her but no such luck."

"You didn't think to bring a doctor or medic?" Jaune rounded on her with a fierce scowl.

"We are all trained in first aid. There is no immediate danger to her life. We were going to bring her into Vale and secure her back to Atlas."

"Extradition. You were going to kidnap what could be a Valian civilian for being present on the train. Do you know for sure she was one of the intruders?"

By the look of the guards who shuffled around them Jaune new they didn't not. "Unbelievable. I will take over from here Magen. Your troops are no longer welcome on this investigation. Remove yourselves before the train starts to move."

Magen sucked in a hiss of breath. "That is not your decision Patrolman. You were requested to be present for an Atlas inquiry on an attack on their property. At most you are here as a courtesy."

"Magen. I really don't want to repeat myself right now. Never mind the number of laws you have broken with this cart and the girl, the act of obstruction of justice is enough to have your team forcefully ejected out of Vale." There was a shuffling of weapons outside the cart along with a few alarmed gasps. Jaune had a good idea that both sides had drawn weapons. He quickly added, "As a courtesy, I am _asking_ you to remove yourselves."

Magen looked around at her men and knew she could do little else. "You will hear about this from my superiors."

Jaune gave her an apologetic smile as a peace offering. "I will hear it from the Council as well. I am sure there will be plenty of time to crucify me later this year over this."

Jaune started to walk away before she spoke and knelt next to the girl. "Midori, I know you're at the door. Get in here."

The green haired man walked in and nervously watched the Atlas soldiers file out. Magen was already on her scroll requesting a transport. Jaune ignored them and focused on the injured girl. "This arm doesn't look good. Is there a medic in our group?"

"Yeah. Toni. I'll get him."

Jaune nodded and stood up. What would he give to have a partner right now. He could not abandon the train to bring the girl to Vale to see a doctor. The girl needed medical attention. Jaune opened his scroll and called in a dispatch for a bullhead to come to the train and give an air lift directly to Beacon.

Behind him, he could hear Toni grunt, "We need to fix her arm, its dislocated."

Midori took the girl by the arm bit and with a loud grinding sound pushed it back into place. Jaune looked back to where Magen went. He didn't waste a glare on the Atlas hunstman.

Once Jaune saw that the girl had a security detail, Jaune walked towards the lead cart. The train engine side had finally rolled back into position and the Corp of Engineers had spent the better part of the day modifying the broken attach lock to reconnect the train carts and still hold up against the stress. Jaune took his time to watch the group as they informed him and the Transit Railway Service that they were ready to move. It was a slop job, but it would work to let the train complete its journey at a snail's pace…

Exactly thirty minutes passed before Jaune started walking down the carts on the roof. The train moved at a walking pace.

Jaune was half way down the carts when he heard the bullheads land one after another on the flat carts. One scraped against the slow moving platform as it did so. Jaune saw a few people flinch at the loud noise.

"Time to get that girl." Jaune muttered to himself.

-o-

Jaune eyes followed Magen as her team boarded the first bullhead and lifted of. Jaune shook his head. She was mad but there was little she could do about it. He almost felt sorry for putting her between her orders and her boss. Jaune waved Glynda over. Ozpin sent both Goodwitch and Peach with the bullhead bound for Beacon.

The two women looked over the unconscious faunus girl. The girl may have been atmost Jaune's age. When both professor looked at Jaune he just gave an apologetic, "She was like this when I found her. They had her hiding in a cart with little medical treatment." Jaune pulled out his scroll and took several more pictures before the medical staff strapped the girl to a gurney.

Peach placed her hands on her hips and gave a sympathic groan at the girls injuries. "I'll get her to June as quickly as possible."

Glynda looked over the girl with Jaune and turned to him. "Jaune I already have a message from Atlas asking why their men have been removed from protecting their property. And another message from the council to Ozpin why our patrolman removed extra security from the train. Come straight to Beacon when you get back into Vale. Ozpin will clear it up."

Jaune nodded. He would likely be confined to Beacon until the Council and Atlas reps decided what to do with the incident. Jaune watched as the two professors walked back into their ship. Jaune yawned away the stress and resumed his walk along the length of the train. It would be a long night. The trained picked up a little more speed now that the ships were away, but it was not a lot. At this pace it would still be nine hours before they even approached Vale.

Jaune yawned once more even thinking about it. The patrolman dropped from the roof to the cart deck and started to look for his huntsmen. Maybe they took over the lounge so he could get some shut eye, or coffee.

-o-

The night went about as well as he expected it. The Vale police took over control of the cart as it pulled into station. Jaune only relaxed after the train was moved to a quarantined dock to inspect all the carts.

"I heard you started a fight Jaune." Called a cheerful voice. The Vale Chief of Police himself stood with smile. Two of his men had already ordered their own officers to go through the train with the huntsmen.

Jaune groaned. "I might as well have. Oro, I'm going to Beacon. I have a prisoner to interview. Don't let the engineers bb by themselves. I'm not convinced we didn't pull something into Vale."

"Yeah yeah. I know the job Arc. Get some rest. You look like a racoon."

Jaune scowled him and did his best to ignore the bags under his eyes. As he exited the station he recognized one of the men in front of a car. The driver waved to Arc to get in the car. Jaune did so and exhaled a tired grunt. "Morning Rahn. How bad was it this morning?"

The Rahn smiled around a day old chin fuzz. "Dead silence so far. Word is, Ozpin hasn't slept either if it makes you feel better. The maids have been supplying him with coffee all night."

Jaune grimaced but nodded his head against the headrest.

Inside Beacon, Jaune went straight to the medical wing. He spotted the doctor and changed directions down the hall. "June, how is the girl from last night?"

June stopped to let Jaune catch up. "She is in better condition now. Her arm lost circulation due to the dislocated arm socket. She will make a full recovery within the week. She is an aura user."

Jaune thanked her before asking, "Has she woken at all?"

"Briefly. But the girl fell back asleep once she realized she was in a hospital bed. We have inhibitor cuffs securing her."

Jaune thanked her already thinking the girl would likely not be able to move without intense pain if she tried to escape from those. "Could you call me as soon as she wakes and is coherent?"

"I was planning to any way. I heard you been up all night. Go get some sleep. Not much you can do right now anyway."

Jaune laughed and started to walk away. "Thank goodness for small favors. Night June."

"Have a good morning Jaune." June called back.

-o-

Coco didn't bother to knock a third time. This late in the afternoon, Jaune was either here or he wasn't and his favorite treats had been sitting on her dorm's table since last night. Coco shuffled her bags of groceries in her hands and unlocked the apartment door. "Hello." She half whispered cheerfully as she poked her head inside.

When there was no sound, she walked in and placed the bags on the table. Coco looked around and noticed Jaune was definitely home. His vest was laying on the floor near the bedroom. She walked across the apartment and smiled when she let the half-open door creak wider. Jaune was sound asleep with all of his clothes on. It looked like he simply fell forward onto the bed and passed out.

Coco smiled briefly before she walked up to the bed. She almost reached out to wake him but stopped herself. Instead she slowly sat on the bed and rolled next to Jaune's side. He did not even so much as twitch at the added weight and heat at his side. Coco leaned into his shoulder and sighed against his arm. "Guess today was a no go either."

She laid there for a few more moments just to look at him. She leaned her forehead against his shoulder and smelled the familiar scent of woods and cold rain. She smiled into his shoulder before she sat up and leaned in. Her lips lingered on his cheek before she whispered, "Night Jaune."

As quietly as she could, she got out of bed and left the apartment to allow her boyfriend some time to sleep. All she could hear of this afternoon at work was about a derailed cart. If the clue about grocery shopping was anything to go by, he had been up all night with a train.

Hours later, Jaune woke to the sound of his scrolls' urgent beep. He flinched for a moment before he focused on the text while it rang. He quickly opened it. "Hello?" Jaune paused as he listened to June's report. Jaune quickly got up and went to the bathroom.

"Yes, I'll be down in ten minutes."

Jaune clicked the scroll off and stuffed it in his pocket. The patrolman splashed water on his face. When he looked up he noticed the smeared lipstick on his cheek. Jaune paused and his lips slowly morphed into a satisfied grin before he leaned over the sink and cleaned up the lipstick and walked out to grab his vest on the floor. _No time for dinner._ Jaune lamented. He was almost out the door before he spotted the bag of something on the table. He went over to it and smiled as he pulled out a Fuchsia Sweet. Jaune smiled as he bit into it.

"God I love that woman." Jaune moaned around a mouth full before he was already out the door eating the apple on the way.

-o-

Jaune watched the girl as she blankly surveyed the room. The Hospital rooms in Beacon were single rooms usually with quite a few amenities. This one had been converted to a cell. The single light on the ceiling and the mattress had the markings of a hospital. But the lack of most medical equipment made it look more like the cell it was. Jaune was thankful they were able to pull something together so quickly. The door to allow for privacy to the bathroom was removed, anything that could be picked up and thrown was removed as well. The window that looked outside had its curtains and mounts removed, the window was shut and locked down with a bolted metal rod. Jaune was satisfied with what he saw. He then looked at the girl.

The girl looked to have as little sleep as he had. She inspected the cuffs on her wrists. They were not chained together like normal hand cuffs. Jaune was not sure if she knew what they were made of. But she seemed reluctant to test them. Eventually, her hands rested on her lap. Her hands shook and dry red eyes would occasionally look at him before she looked back down to her hands. The girl looked as if all the world had collapsed around her. Given how she was found and the moments where she looked like she was about to cry since he arrived, maybe it had.

"My name is Jaune Arc. I am a Patrolman for Beacon Academy. How are you feeling?"

The girl stirred and stared at him through black ringed eyes. She looked back down and sighed.

Jaune pulled out one of the bottles of water from his pack. She looked unsure at the bottle. Jaune took a drink before he passed it to her. "I'm not here to hurt you. I am just curious."

The girl glared at him for a good few moments then took the water. She drank slowly at first but quickly drank the rest with an exhausted exhale. "I'm tired."

"And probably cold. These rooms have always been colder than they should be. You are currently in the custody of Beacon Academy, not Vale Police. There will be no Atlas government involved so long as you are in here, if you were worried."

The girl looked at him for a moment while she stared at his eyes. She looked back down to her bandaged arm and muttered a quiet, "Thank you."

"If you don't feel like talking now, we can wait until tomorrow after you have rested, it's already pretty late. Miss Tangie will come back to check on you through the night. Your arm was a mess when I found you." Jaune stood up and pushed his chair back in.

"That's it?" The girl looked at him.

Jaune eyed the confused look before he frowned. "Don't get me wrong. I need answers, but there is no reason to treat you harder than you need to be. You are still a human being. Despite what others may think of that." He glanced at her cat ears before he walked out. The door shut and sealed behind him.

The girl just pulled her arms closer to her body and shuddered before she pulled in her blanket to keep warm. There was another knock. The girl looked up, afraid of what would come next as the door opened again. Jaune walked back in with two more blankets and three water bottles. He placed them on her bed. "I got no food for you right now. But you should be getting something now that you are awake. Good night Miss."

The girl nodded.

Jaune smiled as he waved and walked back out of the room.

"My name is Blake. Blake Belladonna."

Jaune looked back and nodded. "Good night Miss Belladonna."

Jaune closed the door and locked it behind him. He took out his scroll and purposefully walked down the hall. "June?"

The doctor looked up from her terminal. "How did it go?"

"I got a name, I'll see if she is willing to talk more tomorrow. But the fact she gave me a name gave me something to work with. Make sure she eats something more than soup tonight. I want her healthy as soon as possible incase Vale demands to transfer custody."

June frowned but nodded. "Any word from Ozpin?"

Jaune shook his head. "No. You were the first to contact me. I'll speak to Glynda tomorrow morning if I don't hear anything tonight. I'll take that there was no emergency arrest warrants for my name as a good sign."

June shuddered. "Good luck Jaune."

"Thanks." Jaune walked back to his apartment. Jaune looked at his scroll and sighed as he started a criminal search for the girl's name. Even without an interrogation, he had something to work on tonight.

-o-

Jaune set down his tea with a groan. He rubbed his eyes and stood up. This was not what he was hoping to see. Jaune glanced at the clock. The girl, Blake, should be up by now. It was well past ten in the morning. The patrolman really wanted to be wrong. That it was not the White Fang that attacked the train. But the girl was the daughter of Ghira Belladonna and had been known as a member for the last seven years. The pictures of her with the matching ears as a child during a few protests showed she started early. Well before the group went militant. Blake being in Jaune's custody implied there were far more problems than he had expected. Especially if Atlas were to find out.

Jaune's scroll blipped loudly. Jaune looked at the message. He quickly put on his jersey and ran out the door. He was ordered to immediately come to the infirmary. Jaune ran down the steps in three large gallops and sprinted across the field to the third building.

Jaune spotted Ozpin walk inside with someone leading him. It took Jaune just two strides to come to a complete stop in front of the doors and he walked in. Jaune spotted the two familiar faces of Ozpin and June and raised an eyebrow at the Atlas uniform of the third. Jaune gave a questioning look to Ozpin who seemed to be the woman's personal escort. Jaune already did not like what he saw.

"Headmaster." He greeted the older man as to insert himself into the conversation.

"Mr. Arc. I had just been in discussion with First-Lieutenant Schnee in regards to our guest."

Jaune looked at the woman. Clad in a white Atlas uniform with white hair to match, hands pressed behind her back, she stood at attention with an air of expectation to get what she was sought for by the end of the day. Jaune noticed she seemed to have something in her hand at the same time she gave a cursory glance at the teen and his vest. She looked him right in the eye realizing who she was speaking to.

Jaune looked back to Ozpin, "I would like to be briefed before anyone wishes to visit any witness in our custody Headmaster."

"Witness?" the woman said skeptical of the label. "She was clearly present for the attack on the train. As it was Atlas property she should be handed over to Atlas Military for arrest and questioning. Should she prove to be clear of any wrongdoing." Her voice dripped with dry sarcasm, "She would be released back to Vale custody for review."

Jaune looked at the woman for a moment before he finally addressed her. "First-Lieutenant. Jurisdiction clearly states that Vale has supreme authority over any investigation regardless of who is involved."

The woman seemed satisfied with that remark and pulled out the folder and presented him with a piece of paper. "Then it is good to see that the Vale Council has released investigation rights to Atlas."

Jaune looked at it and read it carefully. He closed his eyes as he bit back the smile. He glanced at Professor Ozpin. Jaune was familiar with the wording of this release. It was the same on his own agreement with Vale. Jaune looked to the woman and realized she did not know it was up to her to provide proof to contest the rights for the case. Jaune happily gave the paper back. "The Council has already relinquished rights for the investigation to Beacon Academy the moment I was summoned. I would ask you re-read that declaration again. I do not work for Vale as a patrolman First-Lieutenant Schnee, I work for Beacon Academy. My contract with Beacon and with Vale as a whole specifically states the moment my presence is requested I have unilateral control of any inquiry or inquest. The witness, while not originally part of that request, still falls under my purview."

Jaune pointed to the sheet. "That declaration the Council gave you was a request that you provide proof that I am acting outside of Vale's interests. Only then would you be able to forcefully remove my witness."

The Schnee puffed and glared at him. He felt it needed to be said when she did not give a reply. "I will not release my witness to Atlas authority."

Jaune watched the woman as her eyes went through a few different reactions. It was interesting to see the rest of her face not move at all. Eventually she closed her eyes in defeat. "I shall speak to the Council about your role. It is clear to me, that one person should not have this much control over an investigation." She pivoted on her heel and toe and turned one hundred and eighty degrees and stormed away. Jaune just kept any dry retort to himself.

After a moment Jaune called out to her, "First-Lieutenant,"

The woman turned around clearly annoyed with the patrolman, "Yes?"

Jaune gave her a sympathetic look. "I am not trying to make enemies." The woman was about to say something before Jaune continued heedless of what she may have said, "But, while it may be Atlas's reputation at stake for you, it is Vale's safety at stake for us. Please remember that when you speak with the council. I will not let anyone jeopardize the safety of Vale for their own benefit." His eyes steadied on her until she nodded and walked away.

Jaune sighed and let his shoulder slump a little. "I don't think I did myself any favors."

"I stand by you on this one. The man who sent her is an old friend of mine. I had not known she would have been so demanding as to march to the hospital wing on her own. I had just stopped her before you arrived."

"How much trouble did I just cause for you?"

Ozpin smiled. "Not as much as you did for yourself I'm afraid. But it is the first investigation called by Vale. I think both sides will be testing the waters during this investigation."

"I'll stop by your office this afternoon. I am sure our witness has some questions. I am pretty sure she heard this whole conversation. Good day Headmaster."

"I'll see you later Jaune." Ozpin looked back to June. "If anyone else asks for our guest, please call me or Jaune immediately. Thank you June."

"Thank you Headmaster." June sighed as she turned to catch up to Jaune as they both entered the guest rooms.

"How is she?"

"Miss Belladonna is doing well. She gained full movement of her arm thanks to her aura. She currently resides in the room only as a cell for the moment."

"Let's see if we can improve her accommodations after I speak with her. She may be with us for some time if Atlas has decided to have a vested interest in her."

June nodded. "I'll speak to Glynda."

Jaune stopped at the door and knocked it. "It's Jaune Arc, Miss belladonna."

Miss Belladonna's voice was much stronger than last night as it carried through the door. "Come in."

Jaune unlocked the door and walked in with the door latching shut behind him. The girl looked up to him with a restless stir on her bed. She looked well rested and alert. Apparently, she was given some spare clothes. A sweater and sweatpants with the words 'Beacon Academy' stitched across the length of the left leg. "Good morning. I suppose you heard what was said outside the hall?"

Blake slowly nodded. "Not all of it, but some of the shouting carried…." She trailed off thinking about how he stood up to an Atlas officer for her.

"I made a statement last night I would stick by. No Atlas would interfere. Bending to them would destroy any trust you had in me. Are you willing to answer some questions for me?"

Blake looked at the teen and finally nodded. "Yes."

Jaune smiled as stepped outside to grab a folded chair and set it down across from her. "Could you tell me how you ended up on the train Miss Belladonna?"

"This wasn't the first time I knew about an armored train going to Vale. It was just the first one I boarded. I had to go. I had to make sure he didn't do it. I needed to see if he could stop himself. I wanted to stop him. I used to trust him…" Blake's voice cracked. She rubbed her eye. "I had a friend named Adam. He was the leader of our group. I was White Fang. It was getting bad- in the White Fanged these last few months. Adam wanted to show Vale that they were here too, not just in Menagerie and Atlas. But he was getting impatient. Adam got his chance when a human came to our camp and told us how we could get enough firepower to make a difference."

"The man was good as his word. Too good. We were able to secure supplies with no way that it was linked to White Fang. Now it was just up to getting weapons."

Jaune just watched the girl's eyes as she tried to look at anything but him. "The White Fang just needed weapons to make a statement. The message to Vale to say they were here."

Blake shuddered. "They wanted to prove that the city was vulnerable. And they wanted to use the automated defenses to show it."

"The White Fang were targeting the droids on the train." Jaune reasoned.

Blake nodded. "When I realized those were for the defense of against the grim, I just couldn't stand by and let that happen. Too many people would be killed if grim invaded the city. That was not the fight I wanted, what we used to stand for. I-I destroyed the equipment they were going to use to program the droids."

Jaune gripped his hands together. Either theft or some way to compromise the droids would have been catastrophic. Jaune snapped out of his thoughts as Blake started to cry. "I didn't mean for her to die."

"Who?" Jaune passed the girl a bottle of water and some tissue.

Blake took a moment to say around muted tears. "Our teacher. Sienna Khan. Adam blamed her for the destroyed equipment. He thought she had sabotaged it. She was against the entire attack when he proposed it. When Adam decided to continue with it, Sienna said if he did, he would face her wrath."

"I didn't think he would kill our teacher and take her place." Blake shook her head. "I needed to get away. Adam wanted us to try again with a new train shipment. I-I trashed the equipment again but someone caught me. I ran."

"When was this?"

"Last week. I knew they still wanted to try and attack the train. I had to do something."

Jaune lowered his eyes to her hands. They were clasped tightly and they shook as she released a pained sob. "Adam came by himself. I don't even know why I thought it was a good idea to fight back. I fought him before he could do anything- anything on the train but he was so angry."

Jaune had no idea how the Atlas team found her. Her arm was damaged blue. But the bruises and cuts against her temple and throat gave him a good idea what may have happened. "He tried to kill you."

Blake nodded. She was unable to speak. Her eyes lost themselves to the moment. "He- just kept screaming." She closed her eyes and her voice shook. "When he sliced at my neck he said I ruined it… That I…" Blake shuddered as she lost the strength to hide the tears as they rolled off her cheek. Several minutes passed as she covered her mouth. "I shouldn't be alive. It was only because the security droids interfered. They noticed I cut the train carts."

"Why cut the cart off?"

"He wanted me dead but he thought whatever was further up the train was more important. I don't know what it was he wanted. His plan did not look like it changed, but he was not after the security droids anymore."

Jaune looked at his list. "You were on the train before he arrived?"

"Yeah. I stole away earlier and waited. It was the last train with security droids for two months. It was his last chance. He got on to the train and I stopped him at the security train. I thought they may help me."

Jaune smiled and bade her continue.

"I knew I made a mistake right away. He nearly killed me with his first swing." She gestured to the nick across her neck. She took a moment as she realized what she said. Jaune waited for her to pull herself together. She cried for a good while. When she calmed down she looked ready to fall asleep. But she did her best to focus on Jaune. "I-I didn't think I was going to make it. So I ran. Adam stopped me a few carts down. He saw something further up ahead and almost ignored me. I took that as my chance to cut the cart connector. If i was going to die anyway, I wanted to at least make sure he did not get what he wanted."

Jaune wrote down the order of events. "That is when the droids started to wake up?"

"Yeah. I would have thought they would start the moment I entered the cart, but I guess they didn't since I opened the cart door rather than break in. I stole a security key." Jaune observed the girl as she shuddered.

"Can you tell me about the man who approached Adam?" Jaune asked to take her mind of the memory.

Blake was grateful to talk about anything else. She tried to remember the best she could of the first meeting months ago. Jaune let her talk. The man was described as a tall elder man with dark short hair and a well trimmed beard. He spoke with a posh accent native to Atlas. The talk eventually drained Blake.

"Thank you for working with me Miss Belladonna. What is it you wish to do now?"

Blake looked confused, "I have a choice?"

Jaune gave a silent laugh as he stood up. "Not quite. This is just me being curious. Had you escaped what would you have done?

Blake shook her head. "I'm not sure. Hide in Vale? Get a job. Try to be normal for a change. I had first thought to try and stop him but after..." Blake reached for her throat and rubbed the tape bandage against her neck.

Jaune nodded. "I didn't think you would have turned to a life of crime to survive, but I felt I had to ask."

Blake gave the first smile he had scene. "I think I am done trying to break any laws Mr. Arc."

"Thank you. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated. If I am able, I can add some weight to the decision on what will become of you. I am sorry for the uncertainty. But there is still a few issues regarding how I found you that needs to be resolved first."

"The woman at the door."

Jaune frowned. "Yes her. I'll do my best to see that you are protected and rewarded for your cooperation. You are a defector and someone who had tried to actively stop the White Fang attack. That does help you."

Blake nodded. "Thank you."

Jaune walked out of the room. It silently locked behind him. Jaune had spent the better part of three hours with the distraught girl. Jaune glanced at his scroll and sent a message to Ozpin that he was heading up. Jaune was halfway across the campus before he realized he had not eaten. He quickly added to the message.

 _After lunch._

-o-

Jaune finally ran out of things to do to stall going up stairs. It was Ozpin's message for him to come up that made Jaune's feet move. It felt like the times when he was a boy and tried to avoid his dad because he messed up. Feeling like a child, Jaune walked into the headmaster's office. Jaune stood straighter at the guests.

"Good afternoon Headmaster." Jaune glanced at the Vale rep. Mr. Mezla. Jaune only spoke with the man once. He was a tall tanned man, even taller than Jaune with a thin black mustache. Next to him the woman, Schnee stood at attention and gave the patrolman a respectful nod.

It was Mr. Mezla that greeted Jaune first. "Good afternoon Patrolman. We had been busy with the incident and have solidified a few plans as your contract has brought about some concerns."

"Please take a seat." Ozpin gestured to the three of them.

Jaune walked up to the desk and took a seat next Mr. Mezla. Jaune felt sorry for the representative to sit in no-mans land between Jaune and the Schnee.

Jaune glanced at Ozpin. The older man clasped his hands on his desk. "The Vale Council were deeply concerned about the confrontation with Atlas personnel on the crime scene. Most." He shared a look with Mr. Mezla, "Took it as a sign of your lack of experience as Patrolman of Beacon."

Jaune kept his mouth shut and consciously relaxed his jaw. Teeth grinding would only give him a headache. Ozpin went on.

"Having said that. The Council had no doubt in the merits of your interests being the interests of Vale's safety. Atlas reviewed the incident themselves and called into question their own officers who had given such a direction in the first place."

Jaune felt more than saw the First-Lieutenant stir. When Ozpin looked over to the Atlas officer, the woman announced. "Upon further review of the incident we found-" She was reluctant to admit, "-no issues with the authority exercised during the investigation. Atlas has always valued Vale as a friend, and such a small incident should not jeopardize the good will between allies. We would only ask that you expedite the investigation so that Vale receives the equipment for the safety of Vale's boarders as quickly as possible."

"Thank you for your understanding First-Lieutenant Schnee. I will proceed as quickly as I am able. Of course I will request that all findings will be disclosed to the affected parties after the investigation is complete."

For the first time since he had met her, the woman slightly relaxed, "Thank you for your consideration Patrolman Arc. Are we done here for now Headmaster Ozpin?"

Ozpin nodded to her. "Thank you for being so patient with us Miss Schnee. Have a good day." The woman stood and nodded to the group before she walked out.

Once the elevator was shut and the lift was off the floor, Jaune slumped in his chair. "So what did the council really say?"

Mr. Mezla laughed. It seemed like he had been holding it in for a while. "Pretty much what you said this morning going by what Ozpin said. They were happy to see Beacon's Patrolman would not accede to Atlas demands on your own. It was your authority that could hand over the rights, not theirs. They would like to know what the hell happened and who your guest is?"

Jaune sighed. "I can make a report tomorrow afternoon. But I need go over the train one more time. Any word from Vale PD about the train investigation?"

Jaune had passed the inspection to them but like Ozpin, they had been very quiet.

"They have Jaune. I had not forwarded it to you. It was an oversight. You do not have an inbox to receive correspondence outside of your scroll. It is something that will be corrected by the end of the day."

Ozpin pulled out the folder. "I have not looked at it. But you will want to make your calls on it soon. As much as I would say to take your time. The droids are needed on the borders soon. Vale had been dragging their feet on ordering repairs for the last generation of droids and ordered these when they realized it was too late for repairs."

Jaune nodded. "Thank you. Before I go. I need to speak with you about the guest." He glanced over to Mr. Mezla.

The man stood. "I'll take this as my time to leave. Good afternoon gentlemen. I will square some time in tomorrow's meeting for your review of the investigation. I'll give you an actual time by tomorrow morning."

"Just be aware it may not be a full report. That's hardly any time to put anything together." Jaune frowned.

"I'll let them know." Mezla reassured him.

Jaune sighed and pulled out his scroll. He passed the info to Ozpin's scroll. "Her name is Blake Belladonna. She's a defector from the White Fang."

Ozpin stopped reading and looked up. "Is she related to Ghira Belladonna?"

"Should I be surprised you know him? Blake is his daughter."

"I only briefly worked with him on a equals rights summit here in Vale. That must have been twenty five years ago. I was only vaguely aware he had children."

"I read up on the man. And the White Fang. They used to be a peaceful protest group."

"Yes. They had a good outreach and support program to all faunus who decided to attempt to live among the majority population." Jaune smiled at the careful wording. Most people would have said humans.

"According to Blake, the White Fang did not just turn militant, they turned into a violent organization. Do you know who the current leader is?"

Jaune had no experience with the White Fang and only read minor reports related to vandalism and theft up until the last seven years.

"That would be Sienna Khan. She was the leader who decided that actions spoke louder than words. Various leaders had tried to meet and appeal with her group for peace with little luck."

"According to Miss Belladonna, she has been killed." Jaune sighed as he pulled up some notes he wrote during his late lunch. "By a man named Adam Taurus. He is the person who is extending White Fang's influence into Vale. He killed her when he believed Khan had actively interfered with a planned attack targeting Vale. He assumed control of the entire White Fang. Blake Belladonna does not know how many people actually know about the change of leadership. But Adam attempted to kill Miss Belladonna when she sabotaged one of the Fang's plans."

"I assume that is the train incident."

"It is. I would like to review the train report but also decide now what I can do about our guest before I walk into that meeting tomorrow."

Ozpin closed his scroll and opened up his terminal. "What are the crimes she has committed during your investigation."

"Trespassing, destruction of Vale property."

Ozpin gave him a curious look.

Jaune nearly shrugged. Instead he pointed out, "That's all there was to it if you think about it. Nothing was stolen. And nothing was tampered with on board with the exception of property of two carts. And we can't say that was her. Honestly with her cooperation, I wouldn't think a judge would give her more than six months. It's what comes after that has me concerned."

"Even after her sentence, her life will still be in danger. You don't want to endanger her life needlessly when you judge her." Ozpin observed while he leaned back in his chair.

Jaune nodded. When he was given unilateral control, he meant all of it. He omitted some information to the witness to give himself some time to figure out what to do. "The new White Fang will look for her. Miss Belladonna gave up a lot of sensitive information. They will want to make sure they silence her."

Ozpin finger tapped the console, "I can offer you an alternative if you are interested."

Jaune crossed his arms with a pragmatic look. "I had hoped you did or she may be killed as soon as she leaves prison."

-o-

Jaune walked into the room Council Room in a stiff formal black jacket and slacks. The tie felt like it choked his throat. He ignored his sweaty palms that he felt stained the folder of packets he carried in with him. Every member of the Council waited patiently as he was directed to the center of the end table. A console screen was up and running with a login request. Jaune set the stack down and placed his hand on it. It was more to keep him steady as he felt slightly dizzy from the focus of the most powerful men and women in Vale. Like so many times before when he felt lost, he whispered to himself. _Just do your job._ Jaune looked up and greeted the Council of Vale.

"Good afternoon Councilmen. Thank you for your time today."

"Thank you for forming a report so quickly." Jaune honestly did not know who most of these people were. Jaune simply nodded to the man who spoke.

"If you pardon me, I would like to start. There is a lot to go over." Jaune passed a small stack of packets to an aid who quickly passed them to the councilmen. "The security breach and the subsequent train delay is only a small part of this report."

Jaune recalled what he saw and found during the on-site investigation including his personal account and stand off with Atlas Military.

"You willfully made an ultimatum on the Atlas personnel?" A woman asked. She was the youngest of the group.

Jaune paused as he tried to recall her name but couldn't. Instead he said, "I am familiar with working with Atlas representatives Councilor. They are more concerned with cleaning and down playing instances of security breaches rather than investigating what caused them."

Another councilman scowled. "And we are not? All it takes if a mass of negative sentiment to risk the city."

Jaune knew of the delicate balance needed to keep the city safe. Mass turmoil of negative feelings draw grim. Even a negative reaction to government actions and opinions can put the city in jeopardy. It was why the council has always had a united front for the people. Any dissension brings uncertainty.

"But we don't leave the incidents a mystery. We investigate why these crimes happen. Atlas has no such incentives. And their region rarely needs the discretion we require. In their frozen lands, they do not need to worry about grim." Jaune turned the page of his packet. "Turn to page three please."

Jaune stared at the report. He did not disclose the identity of Miss Belladonna in the report. It was as much as a protection for Menagerie as it was to Blake. As the daughter of a country's leader, her presence added unintended implications to her presence among the White Fang. That was something her father had apparently tried his hardest to erase these last ten years.

"The person who was arrested is currently being treated as a witness rather than a criminal." Jaune heard rather than saw the rustle of sheets as the councilmen set their packs down to look at him. Jaune concentrated on the sheet to keep focused. "The most serious crime the witness committed was destruction of a train cart connector and trespassing on government property. Both are gross misdemeanors and require at most, one year in prison on each account. I have judged her guilty of both instances. As for sentencing… Please turn to page five."

Several gasp were inhaled at the title.

WHITE FANG ACTIVITY

"The reason I still regard her as a witness is largely due in part to her account what happened on the train and what I was able to corroborate with a representative back in Menagerie who is familiar with the White Fang." Jaune failed to mention that the person he spoke to was Blake's father. Jaune felt he should contact the man to let him know what is happening to his daughter. The relief in the man's voice was palpable. He had heard there was a new leader to the White Fang but did not know who.

"The witness is a defector of the current incarnation of the White Fang."

"Why say the current one?" This was from an older man with a grey beard and mustache. Jaune thought he looked like an old sea captain without the hat.

"It has been confirmed by the witness and our inquiries in Menagerie that there is a new leader of the White Fang that killed the previous leader Sienna Khan. Several members of the White Fang have tried to defect and were killed in Menagerie and Atlas. Our witness was the first to reportedly survive the assassination attempt."

Jaune let the information sink for a moment. "The witness brought us valuable information about the White Fang leader. His name is Adam Taurus. A man recognizable by his horns in red hair. He wears a mask to cover three scars that cross his right eye and left cheek. This is a militant leader who has already changed how the White Fang has placed attacks. I am unable to confirm much of what is going on in Atlas." Jaune nearly grimaced at the thought. "But the witness stated that their new tactics have been far more successful this past year due to the help of an outsider who has been the beneficiary."

Jaune added before anyone could ask, "I am not sure how the outsider benefits but he has guided Taurus into position of power and focused his attention on expanding their influence into Vale."

"We are only learning of this now then. How have none of our police or patrolmen picked up on this before?"

Jaune turned the page and the group immediately copied his movement. "It was likely because of this outsider. After making some inquiries, I found several instance of unclaimed crime related to theft of supplies and dust without the markings of White Fang activity. I believe this is the influence of the outsider at work. Given on what was stolen, they are making a camp base somewhere in Vale."

"You sound very confident that their target is Vale." Someone pointed it.

"It is because of the witness and what the original task on the trains was to be. This was not the first attempt to invade an Atlas train. The witness had sabotaged the first attempt before it started."

Someone scowled. "I don't mean to second guess your work Mr. Arc. But are we blindly trusting this man's word?"

Jaune didn't correct the councilman and instead set his scroll down, "May I?" he asked, gesturing to his scroll. An aid gave the terminal permission to connect to the scroll.

The screen turned on with the contents of the train. "What we are looking at is the contents of the train. Seven cohorts of atlas droids. Four command droids and two communication terminals for the eastern boarder. The original plan according to the witness was to compromise the security of the two terminals. That would deactivate the droids and leave the eastern front open to a grim invasion."

The room stayed silent and Jaune moved to the next image. "We have had five trains of such cargo in the last year. They could have taken any one of these trains and compromised security at any time during the transit of the equipment. This sabotage was only two of the ones the witness was able to confirm. They are unsure if there were others earlier this year." The screen went blank for a moment before it showed an image of all the borders that had new droids as part of the security. "This is the outline of all droids new and old as of today. Blue are older droids to be replaced, red are the new ones that are in circulation now." There was very little blue lines across the semi circle around the city, and thick bands of red across several rows leading to the city.

"I am not taking their word because I necessarily believe them. I take their word because It will cost thousands of lives if I don't."

"Our security is compromised by trust now Councilmen. I suggest inviting Atlas engineers to go over all equipment installed to ensure that it is safe to use."

Several councilmen looked at each other. The costs alone would be exorbitant. And not something that could be done willfully. But to not do it...

One councilmen added, "We may need to cancel the Vytal Festival here in Vale."

Several scowls were shared. They died a quiet death when Jaune looked at the group. Jaune put in his thoughts, "Headmaster Ozpin is in agreement that is a possibility. I am in no position to say what is to be done, but I was reminded just yesterday by their own representative that Atlas has always been a friend to Vale. Sharing this knowledge of the White Fang and stressing the need of such equipment checks may help us be able to come to an agreement with them in regards to the security sweep. I am sorry Gentlemen, but we need to move on."

Jaune turned the page. "Please go to page twelve." Jaune glanced at the time. It had already been an hour. "My main concern now is to the security of Vale and the impact of our witness testimony. If Vale is a target of the White Fang, we would need to start looking at preventative measures for the city."

"According to the White Fangs original plan, they had thought to weaken our defenses and draw grim to the city. You said it before Sir." He glanced to the councilman who brought up self interests. "All it takes is for the people to lose faith in Vale to draw grim. I suggest a spokesperson be prepared to alleviate fears for any incident that we are unable to foresee and prevent. An active public face will help calm people. I would ask the council review public first response to ensure that any portion of the city could receive aid within minutes of an incident. According to the County Clerk, the last time such a revision was made was well before several highways were created. I also suggest assigning huntsmen to periodically patrol and thin the grim population within ten miles of the city. Headmaster Ozpin-"

"Of course he would offer his huntsmen." Someone added with a cynical laugh.

Jaune smiled. "The notion was not loss on him either. Which is why he is offering his thirds years to Vale to patrol and thin the grim as part of a training program for this year. You can speak with him directly for details if you are interested."

Several of the council were and leaned forward happy to have some kind of leeway.

Jaune took the moment of the council to speak amongst themselves to drink some water. His voice seemed to be squeezed by his throat. It was harder to talk at first, but it became easier once he focused on the job. Finally the men and women seemed to start to focus on Jaune again.

"This finally leads me to the sentencing of the witness. As you may have noticed from the report I have withheld their name. Due to the identity of the witness I feel it is counter productive to disclose their name at this time. However, I have sentenced them to two years of incarceration."

Jaune was amused at the grumbling. "Which will be held at Beacon Academy. Given the information they have given and the willingness to change their lives, Headmaster Ozpin as been gracious enough to invite the witness as a student in Beacon Academy. In six months I shall review their sentence and at that time, if proven they are willing to learn and create a new life, their sentence would be reduced to probation for the remainder of their incarceration. At said time, I will be able to disclose the witness name."

"That's a very unorthodox sentencing."

"I felt it best option for all said parties involved. Since they had worked in the White Fang, I now have someone who may be familiar with how they function to consult in future cases. The alternative would be to incarcerate the witness in a prison provided by Vale PD. However, the witness is under age and will be an easy target for the White Fang to find. In case I need to remind you, they are a defector and are the first survivor we have heard that has escaped the White Fang."

Jaune looked around the room and most seemed happy with the out come. "I ask any questions be held until I compile a more complete report. Thank you for your time ladies and gentlemen. This is still an ongoing case. I will notify the council in the time I do find more."

"Thank you for your time patrolman." One of the council said. Jaune thanked them and took as calm steps as his tense body could make. Shortly after the door closed behind him, he could hear the councilmen debate the merits of the report.

Jaune was warned this would happen by Mr. Mezla. Jaune would happily admit he was too optimistic to think they would follow all his suggestions. Professor Ozpin's offer at least guaranteed one of the suggestions would be accepted. But the others? Jaune was not confident they would seriously consider any of his requests based on what Ozpin had shared his huntsmen experienced when they had to make similar reports.

He tried his best to put in as much information as he was able into the report. He felt he had run his mouth at a hundred miles a second into the two hour meeting. He felt he at least did not make a fool of himself standing in front of the most powerful people in Vale. Jaune nearly slumped against the wall before he rubbed his head.

The door opened and the same aid who logged him into the console looked please he was still there. "Patrolman Arc, may I have a moment?"

Jaune nodded as he stood away from the wall and crossed the hall away from the door. "Mr. Julian wanted to express his gratitude for your presentation. It reaffirmed his confidence in your position."

Jaune gave a relieved look. "Tell him thank you. That means a lot to me."

"If I may?" The aide asked, "I just wanted to say, I have not seen the council take advice as seriously as yours."

"I've heard stories…" Jaune admitted.

"There was no question that Vale's safety was your primary concern. Keep doing a good job Mr. Arc."

"Thank you sir."

"It's Norman."

"Thank you Norman. I have to ask, did it look like I had no idea who any of their names were?"

Norman laughed. "Absolutely."

-o-

Blake stood up and pulled down the new tee-shirt. She was handed some poor temporary clothes to wear with little of the support she was used to feeling against her body. It was the kind of clothes someone would get from a bin of forgotten clothing in a locker. She shuddered thinking about it. Blake just hoped they were washed. They smelled clean at least. The doctor had just opened the door outside. Blake had a hard moment to take a step towards the door. For as odd as it felt, she felt safe in the cell. No one could get her in here.

Blake shook off the feeling as she walked out of the door. Mr. Arc stood outside the hospital room door waiting for her. Mr. Arc had said that Beacon had finally set up a temporary room for her until the start of the school year. That was still just over ten days away. Out of curiosity, Blake asked Jaune what would happen if she failed. Jaune simply said she would have to try and fail to not get into Beacon. Blake left it at that.

Mr. Arc seemed, if possible, to stand more at attention. "Hello Miss Belladonna. May I see your wrists?"

 _Again, he calls me that._ She knew he was being polite, but the idea that the closest safety net she had in Beacon kept everything so impersonal made her a little scared.

Blake extended her wrists fully expecting the handcuffs to go on. What she had placed on her wrists were something similar to the bracelets she wore when she had first woken up in that hospital bed. These bracelets were different from the ones she saw earlier. The first ones she wore looked like handcuffs without the chain that linked them together.

Blake fiddled with the two polished black bracelets around here wrists. Under the wrist was a complicated hole and latch for the lock. She had a feeling there was a reason she wore them. She looked to Mr. Arc while he spoke with the doctor. Blake had started to pick at the pair of grey sweatpants and matching sleeveless tee-shirt. She was unsure how she would get more clothes but did not think that she would be wearing these for her entire stay at the school.

Mr. Arc finally finished speaking with her doctor. When he turned to her she could tell he paused at the black bow that framed her cheeks and covered her faunus cat ears. The patrolman said nothing about. "Come with me and I'll show you to your room. We can go over a few ground rules once there. You will need to know them for the duration of your stay."

The faunus girl was silent and she dragged her feet as he started to lead the way. Blake knew that he was looking at her over his shoulder. It was a contemplative look he got when he seemed to be thinking about something. He seemed to do that a lot with her. Blake could not return the look and tried to face anywhere else but at him. The ground or the few windows they would pass. Blake just wanted to look anywhere but at that silent considering face.

A group of third years passed and greeted Mr. Arc as they walked. Each one gave Blake a curious look before they moved by. Blake had nearly panicked at the four huntsmen in training as they approached. All were humans. She honestly could not remember the last time a group of humans approached her and not raised a weapon. Blake hug herself as she walked behind Mr. Arc. Apparently he had eyes in the back of his head. He asked, "Does it bother you that there are so many mundane people here?"

Blake took a moment to realize what he asked. It confused her until she understood what he meant. "I've.. never heard humans referred to that way before." She answer instead.

Mr. Arc laughed. "You should speak to your father more often." Blake felt her chest tighten. She honestly had not even thought of her family in so long. To hear someone else bring them up now made her nerves fray. Mr. Arc was oblivious to those thoughts, "Those are Ozpin's words to refer to the majority like me." Jaune slowed slightly and Blake unconsciously let herself begin to walk next to him rather than behind the patrolman.

"My father. You know who I am then?"

Jaune gave her a side glance. Blake knew her tone was almost accusatory. She knew it was stupid to think that she may have gotten preferential treatment. But it was her first thought. It was things like that, that made her leave Menagerie in the first place.

"Only after I had already judged you. So long as no one tried to interfere and usurp my place in the investigation, I had already planned what your sentence would be the night of your interview. Just not the specifics of how it would be carried out. You can thank the Headmaster for that one." Jaune answered.

Blake had not known he would have been judge. At best she thought he was just an investigator. It was only after someone called him patrolman, did she realize what kind of person arrested her. Any thoughts to run from a patrolmen died a quick painless death.

Jaune continued, "As to the mundane? We are all human Miss Belladonna. Some of us had harsher upbringings than others. Some have more advantages than others too. It doesn't mean we are not all equal."

Blake scowled. "Says the human." She caught her self and the scowl turned inward. "I really do think that way don't I?" Blake let the sullen words simmer on her tongue.

Mr. Arc walked in silence. Blake shifted uncomfortably. "Miss Belladonna. You have been in an environment where that kind of thinking was encouraged. But on some level you did not agree with all of it, or you would not have left them like you did. You certainly would not have tried to stop them."

"That sounds like a quote." Blake instantly replied. She bit her lip and looked away.

Mr. Arc looked amused. "I've studied a few cases not too different from where you are right now." Blake gave him a dubious look at the word _study._

"It doesn't mean I am wrong Miss Belladonna. Just that I had not experienced it personally myself."

Blake let her mind wander on those words. Blake knew she was only here because she could not let Adam do something so horrible to so many people. Were her thoughts so selfless? She always believed there were good humans. But her own reaction to those four students really tested those thoughts. She had no real answers when Mr. Arc stopped in front of a room.

Mr. Arc opened it and gestured for her to walk in first. The space was a large apartment with furniture in it already.

Mr. Arc called out, "Don't get used to the size. These rooms are for the staff, not the students. When you are in the dorms, its four students in a single room as large of the living room. Just be prepared to have no personal space and little in terms of privacy."

Blake touched the bow that hid her ears. She looked back to the man, a little scared at the idea. He seemed to understand. "They will likely learn you are of faunus descent. I just want to make sure you are prepared for that."

Blake's bow twitched and she nodded reluctantly. Mr. Arc set down a card. "This will be your bank card for your allowance while at Beacon. A scroll will be assigned to you soon. Expect that by tomorrow afternoon. You will need them both as a student in Beacon." Blake wandered around the apartment. She was a lost at the news she would have money and a spacious place to live even if it was temporary.

"Miss Belladonna…" Blake looked up from the couch. "Blake." Blake swallowed. It was the first time Mr. Arc said her name. "You have more freedom than you think. You are allotted time to go into Vale with a huntsmen escort. You will need to go into Vale this week to purchase some clothes. I have a few women huntsmen who had already volunteered. When you are out of training classes, you will be required to wear the bracelets They will not prevent you from using your aura, but it will hurt if you do."

Blake looked at the bracelets she was unsure how they would cause her pain if she used them. They were just simple pieces of polished metal. No mechanisms, no sensors, nothing attached or built in. When Blake was explained what Remnite actually does to a person who uses aura, she had taken to the task of constantly checking the bracelets for any burn marks or even reaction. She was not interested in getting burned.

Mr. Arc walked to the kitchen and inspected the refrigerator and the cupboards to make sure there was food. When he wa satisfied with what he saw, he mentioned, "When you are ready to make that excursion, come to my office and schedule a time. The directory is on the table. A scroll will be issued later this week for you if you wanted to wait."

Blake nodded. Mr. Arc must have seen disoriented look on her face. "Did you have a weapon you trained with?"

She shook her head. "I lost it during the fight on the train." _Gambol Shroud._ Blake lamented its loss. It was half destroyed by Adam when she parried the strike that would have taken her head. Blake's stomach sank at Mr. Arc's next words.

"You are not able to use a weapon given your current status. In six months we'll see at your parole hearing. How's your hand to hand?"

Blake could feel her ears droop under the ribbon in her hair. "Ok I guess."

She knew Mr. Arc did not believe her. He clicked his tongue. "I have a training session planned in the morning with a student huntsman team on training colosseum three at eight in the morning. You are welcome to come if you feel you need to brush up on your hand to hand before your initiation."

Blake was not sure if she had the words to thank him for the offer. She slowly nodded, "I would like that."

"Good night Miss Belladonna." Mr. Arc saw his way out with a silent door click.

Blake looked around her new 'cell' was a good word as any. She could come and go inside of the campus. But she knew she needed permission to leave for town. Maybe she would ask him tomorrow after training to make the arrangement to go buy clothes. When she entered the kitchen she realized she had to cook. Blake felt the surreal moment as she pulled a pan out to stare at it unsure if she _could_ cook anything. She found milk and a box of cereal with a stupid rabbit.

"Better find a cook book when I go shopping." she said over the bowl.

After the strangely satisfying food she sat on the couch with nothing to do. She looked at the bracelets on her wrists. "Well, they could have looked worst." She thought aloud attempting to add as much optimism she could muster into her situation.

-o-

Jaune was half way down to his own apartment before he opened his scroll. He sent a message to Coco. Coco took a minute to reply. Jaune read the message and smiled as he turned around. Jaune hummed a voiceless tune as he made his way to the student dorms. On the seventh floor of the dorms, Jaune spotted CFVY's door wide open with some music playing. He knocked on the door frame and waved at Fox who looked up from some kind of wooden mind teaser puzzle.

"Hey Fox. Just sent a message to Coco."

"I'm here!" she cried down the hall. Her hands full with a bowl of popcorn from the common's kitchens. She quickly leaned in and they pecked each other on the lips. Jaune moved his hand to her waist and kissed her cheek.

"Thank you for the apples, you are my hero."

Coco smiled as she sauntered into her dorm and out of Jaune's arm. "Finally free for a night?"

Jaune sighed and shook his head. "Not quite. I should start to have some time again after tonight. I just wanted to let you know I have a first year in desperate need of hand to hand training starting tomorrow. She has no weapon and is unable to get one before initiation."

Coco whistled but nodded.

Jaune noticed Velvet's ears bob left and right out of the corner of his eye. "Eh, can I speak to Velvet for a second? It's about the girl."

Velvet looked up from her magazine, "What? Oh, Hi Jaune."

"Velvet come talk to Jaune. I need to find a movie to watch."

Velvet got up. "If it's a horror movie again, I'm going down stairs."

Coco rolled her eyes and plopped down on her bed with the popcorn. She instantly picked up the remote control and started typing in letters into the search bar.

Jaune stepped out of the room with Velvet. "Sorry Velvet, I have a first year who will train with us tomorrow morning in hand to hand, but she comes from a very sensitive background. She is a faunus but it looks like she wants to hide that side of her heritage."

Velvet gave a sad, "Oh. I take it she's not from Vale."

"Menagerie and from what I could gleam, most of her bad experiences were while she lived in Atlas."

Velvet's ears dipped slightly at the news. "I can talk to her if you want."

Jaune gave her an appreciative look. "Thanks, but I am not expecting you to. Just… be a role model for her. She has so few experiences of faunus interacting with the mundanes like us."

Velvet understood. "Sure. I can do that."

Jaune grinned and looked over her shoulder to the television. "Thank you. You should probably go in there before Coco decides a giant insect movie doesn't count as horror." Velvet paled before she ran back in. She grunted as she dove for the remote.

Jaune walked to the elevator and could distinctly hear the cry, "My popcorn!"

-o-

The next morning arrived early. Jaune had already been in the colosseum for an hour while he ran around the perimeter at a light jog. He passed around his seventieth lap when he noticed Coco and her scowl as she walked down the steps. Her eyes followed him around the lap in a circle. She seemed to have trouble focusing in on his face at his current pace. One more lap was enough for Coco as she started to walk onto the track. Jaune slowed to a stop in two steps with a slight rose to his cheeks.

"Morning Wench." His grin was so wide it made him shut his eyes.

Coco made a 'pft' sound as she slapped his shoulder. "You can't say that when you are that happy this early in the morning."

"Coco, it's what? Seven?"

"It's almost eight Jaune." Yatsu supplied. The group all seemed to have donned sweat pants and to run a few warm up laps.

"It's almost eight Coco." Jaune laughed. "Wouldn't you be in class this time next week?" Jaune laughed as she batted his back.

"Don't remind me."

Jaune kept his smile as he scanned the arena. Still no sign of Miss Belladonna. Jaune let Team CFVY do their jog while he walked onto the platform and stretched. He heard the front gates squeak open. The faunus girl walked carefully down the stairs in black sweatpants and tee-shirt. The loose bottom of the shirt was tied in a knot to keep it out of the way. Jaune noted the bow firmly placed on the top of her head covering her ears.

"Good morning Miss Belladonna. This is Team CFVY. Coco, Fox, Velvet and Yatsuhashi." Blake gave a polite but quiet hello.

"Come here for a second." Blake walked up to the blonde teen. He gestured to her wrists and she extended them upwards to him to show the locks. A quick press key with a twist of the actual cuff unlocked them. Blake rubbed her wrists. The cuffs were not too tight but they were an uncomfortable weight when she turned her forearms in certain angles. Jaune placed the cuffs in a back hip pocket on his belt. "Go jog until you feel your properly awake and warmed up." Jaune turned back to the group. "Velvet, Fox. You two are up."

Fox hopped onto the platform. He raised his fists to shoulder height and faced Jaune at an angle. Jaune raised his hands and opened his palms. Velvet matched Fox's stance as she stood next to her teammate.

"Fox you go first." Velvet whispered. Fox took four quick steps forward and extended his left fist then his right. Jaune palmed away the first hand and raised his knee to block the second. The patrolman snapped his bent leg outward. His toe nearly nailed Fox's temple before Fox was able to dodge it with a back step.

As soon as Jaune attacked, Velvet moved behind him and thrust a palm forward at the patrolman's floating ribs. Jaune pulled back his extended leg and his left fist into his body before they both thrust outward one appendage aimed at one of the two attackers. Velvet grunted as a fist hit her shoulder awkwardly in her poor attempt to dodge. Fox was fortunate that he decided to not counter attack right away and grabbed Jaune's extended left foot.

"Sorry Velvet." Jaune said in warning as he palmed the flat of his hand against the girls falling body to push himself against Fox's hand. Jaune twisted his hips and swung his free foot against Fox face before he completed a spin in mid air and caught his body with his legs. Jaune raised his hands one more time and jumped back to make sure both Velvet and Fox were in front of him.

-o-

Blake started to jog around the ring amid the grunts that were shouted in the center of the stadium. She was not sure how she felt about her sentencing. When she first ran away from the White Fang, she had hidden on the streets with her bow as her only form of concealment. Even now it sat on her head like a security blanket to keep her safe.

Sure Blake new internally that she could have hidden somewhere and put her aura to use. She had even thought to hide among schools like Beacon. She had not originally wanted to be a huntsman but they would be able to protect and hide her. When Mr. Arc removed the cuffs off her wrists in an empty stadium, Blake had not even thought to run.

Now that the choice was made for her, Blake was not sure if this felt like a punishment or a blessing. It was stressful to know she was guaranteed to enter the school but still have to go through initiation. Mr. Arc reminded her to make the best of everything the school offered her.

'It was not often you get a free education.' He had told her.

Blake knew her heart was not into the run when the spar in the center got her attention. The blonde teen flipped in mid air and grabbed the bunny girl by the shoulders and planted a foot between her shoulder blades before he leaned back and jack knifed his body to flip her over him. Her teammate saved her in mid air before they both charged the patrolman. Blake knew fast. Her semblance allowed her to move quickly and escape dangerous situations. The speed the two teammates at moved were several steps faster than she could move. The red head moved low to push against the patrolman's foot before he tried to kick it away from the patrolman's center of balance. The girl went to grab the patrolman's arm to use as leverage to trap him and allow her teammate to get a free blow.

 _That looks like that was what they tried to do._ She thought to herself.

What happened instead was the patrolman pulled back his foot and quickly snapped it back out against the red heads face… Fox was it? Groaned and hit the ground hard. A small flash wrapped his body before he stilled. The patrolman in a single fluid movement followed through with the kick. Grabbed at the girls forearm the moment she grabbed his. The patrolman pulled the arm of the woman and dropped his body weight. The girl was suddenly off balance. With his arm still pinned, the patrolman raised his leg in a kick over his shoulder. When the girl gave a yip of pain and relaxed her grip, the patrolman lurched forward and flipped the girl over his shoulder where she landed on her back next to the red head.

Blake slowed to a walk and approached the group. The girl Velvet seemed put off from the exchange as she stood up. She nearly toppled as she wheezed.

Blake looked to the patrolman as the humor in his voice rung in the room. "Good job on waiting the both of you. With someone as fast as me, you will want to wait until I commit to an attack. The same can be said with grim too. Coco told me about the Alpha you fought on your mission last semester."

Coco smiled. "Sorry Fox. I thought it was important." Fox huffed out a groan as he stood back up and rubbed his collar bone.

Blake watched as the patrolman smiled at his two sparring partners while they shuffled next to each other. "Keep up the practice. Were you alright there Fox?"

Fox grimaced as he looked at the meter on his scroll. "Sorry Jaune, that last hit took more aura than I expected it too."

Jaune looked over Velvet who nervously shuffled back and forth, not too eager to go in by herself. Jaune shared a look with Coco before they shared a laugh. The patrolman then turned to Blake. "You can come on up too Miss Belladonna."

Coco patted his shoulder and pushed him towards Blake. "I'll spar with Yatsu for a bit so you can work with the first year. I want to show him that trick you showed me."

Jaune smiled his thanks. "Don't hurt yourself." Jaune's fingers brushed against Cocos as she passed by. Blake raised both her eyebrows at the gesture. _Were they-?_ Jaune did not give her an option to continue that thought.

"Before we start, can you extend out your arm?"

Blake took a second to realize why he asked that. Her aura had healed up her arm nearly a day and a half ago. She felt a little silly as she raised it outward and rotated it as he directed. A few more movements, and he seemed satisfied.

"Were you ready to sparr for a bit?"

Blake felt her bow twitch as she gave a nervous laugh. "Am I able to use my semblance if you are going that fast?"

Jaune shook his head. Blake felt he tried his best to give her some reassurance. "You'll set the pace. That sparr with Velvet and Fox was more to see if they kept practicing during the break. They had just returned to Vale a few days ago. This is my first sparring session with them since they came in."

Blake nervously raised her fist. If she was honest with herself. She had not really fought hand to hand in years. Her old weapon Gambol Shroud was a medium ranged weapon if she had to fight hand to hand. She felt her nails dig into her palms as she made a fist. She would need to trim those.

Jaune raised his palms outwards towards her. Blake thought he would have been a grappler the way he held his hands, but he clearly wasn't. Blake spared a glance to the other four students. They had to be at least second years if not third years with the way they carried themselves. The girl Coco laughed at something before she looked curiously at Blake.

Blake looked back to her training partner. When it was apparent the patrolman was not going to attack first, Blake punched with her left. It felt awkward even to her arm. Her feet shuffled as Jaune moved his hand to block it. His eyes followed her fist for a moment before he looked back to her. Blake jabbed and punched one more time. Jaune blocked with his forearm to push away her right before he punched her wrist of Blakes extended full swing punch.

Blake jumped back and shook her wrist. She winced at her hand before she raised her arms again. Blake almost glared at Mr. Arc. The flash of anger died a quick death at his patient and calm stare. Blake swallowed the lump in her throat. The look was too familiar.

Blake gripped her hands with the same ironclad grip she reigned in her emotions. _This is not the time to think of her!_ The next few hits were caught with a slap sound as they hit his open palms. _I never thought I was a great martial artist. But this is!_ Blake felt her frustration build with every poor punch she made. She knew they were bad. Her fists had no strength, and the slaps Mr. Arc made against her hands hurt when she made contact. She knew she was getting angry. By the time she had growled loudly, she didn't care. _Why does he remind me of her now?_

Mr. Arc did not comment on Blake's anger. He did not look bothered when her hand flailed at him. Blake felt her eyes sting. Her punches had renewed vigor. If only to change that look of his face. Blake did not want to think of _her_ right now. Blake's world clouded as she just grunted and shouted, attempting to wail against the patrolman.

Eventually Blake slowed to catch her breath she realized she had been using her aura to enhance her fists. "Mr. Arc, I'm sorry I didn't realize I was..." Blake lost all the fire in her. Did she already screw up her incarceration?

Mr. Arc lowered his hands for a moment. "It's fine. You were not doing it on purpose." Blake looked at the teen. It dawned on her that he had stopped blocking and redirecting with his hands for a long while now. "Are you alright?" Mr. Arc asked finally.

Blake sniffed and walked away. "You reminded me of my teacher. I wasn't ready for it."

"Sienna Khan?" Blake nodded. "What kind of person was she?"

Blake turned back to him. She was greeted with a disarming and curious look from the man. It was the same face he wore when she first saw him in the cell. He was not expecting an answer and would not be offended if she didn't reply. Blake looked away. She couldn't stand to see him look like at her.

"Kind. She would do anything for us. Even slap us around if we thought we knew better." Blake added ruefully. Blake rubbed her eyes and sniffed. "I think she saw Atlas would only become worse for Faunus to live there. It's hard to change anything when inequality is institutionalized."

Blake saw the other teen nodded out of the corner of her eye as he really listened. "Sienna was like the big sister that looked out for everyone. She had wanted to shock Atlas into waking up. It just never worked." Blake exhaled as she sniffed one more time. "Thanks for the break."

Mr. Arc nodded and raised his palms again.

Blake made several more attempts to hit the patrolman. Blake nearly swore aloud as she looked at her feet. She jumped back. It was Mr. Arc's signal to fight back. He took a step forward with a single punch at the same speed she punched at. _Was I always this bad without a weapon?_ Blake could barely follow the fist. By instinct she pulled back and nearly activated her semblance. Blake did not realize how much she relied on it to be able move and dodge. Without it, she felt like she was sitting in mud.

Mr. Arc instantly stepped back to his ready position. "Miss Belladonna. Follow my hands. Try and punch where my hands are for now. Line up your fist so they are always coming in at right angles."

Blake raised her fists and watched as his hands moved. They were slow and deliberate. One moved towards his ribs and the other towards his cheek. Behind his hand, he ordered, "Left. Right."

Blake punched his hand against the high palm with her left, and low with her right. Blake inhaled as he let his body react to each blow as they were hits. He planted his back foot but leaned back. He quickly moved his hands again. This time one hand moved underneath his left cheek as he was bent over and one hovered over his kidney on the opposite side.

"Right. Side-step left, hit right." He ordered again. Blake nearly made an uppercut at the angle his palm rested at. Mr. Arc's face lifted and it exposed his abdomen where his other hand hovered over. Blake shouted as she pulled her fist back and punched the target in a hook at the hand. She was happy to see that he shook his hand as it stung. Blake stepped back to a ready position.

Mr. Arc seemed impressed as he raised his palms. "Again."

Blake allowed the work to become her world. She didn't even notice that there were others that had poked in to see if the stadium was occupied before they left. Or the group of third years watch for twenty minutes before they got bored and left. The empty stadium echoed of her shouts and cries of victory when she was able to land a solid hit against the patrolman's palms. Mr. Arc would raise his palms occasionally in quicker succession. The only real words said were when he wanted a left or a right. At one point she had to laugh as he faked getting hit by a hard uppercut she slammed against his palm. He rightened himself and the two reset.

"Again."

Blake stopped only when she felt a sting against her knuckle. An angry red line crossed her biggest left knuckle. She rested her hand over it and exhaled as her heart slowed down after the long exercise. Eventually she sat on the ground and felt so much better. After everything that happened, it felt good to be able to push back. Even if it really wasn't a push back the way she felt she wanted.

Mr. Arc squatted next to her. "Much better. You usually rely on a weapon don't you?"

Blake snapped back to attention and blushed. "Yes. Gambol Shroud was a hybrid blade and gun with a ribbon attached. The blade allowed me to fight close quarters, but I've never actually punched anything when I had it."

"Or kicked. You've never used your legs once today."

Blake blinked and looked at her feet. "I suppose not."

Jaune smiled. "We'll fix that. Once we get you comfortable on where to look for hits, the rest comes with your aura. I'll have you spar with Velvet once you get used to this."

Blake instantly felt suspicious. "Why her?" The accusatory voice sounded ungrateful even to her. "I'm sorry. I just-"

"It's fine. Velvet was in a similar situation this past spring. Her weapon was destroyed, but she had to keep doing missions for class. And there are regular sparring sessions with Professor Goodwitch on top of that. She is the most familiar with hand to hand with no weapons."

Blake swallowed. She had not thought that far ahead. _How am I supposed to fight against grim like this?_ Blake looked at the man as he handed her a bottle of water. She thanked him and happily sighed into her bottle as she drank several deep gulps. After a deep breath, she looked around the stadium and realized they were the only ones still there.

"Team Coffee had to go. They been gone for a while. We should call it for now too. It's been a few hours. Get some food in you."

Blake touched her stomach as it growled at her. She glanced at the clock. It had been hours. No wonder she was tired. "How am I going to fight grim like this?" She looked at her hands. There were scrapes in her palms thanks to her nails. The knuckles were scuffed and dry. She had never built calusas on her knuckles so they felt raw to her even though they were just a little red. Her aura was doing a good job at healing the red break on her knuckle when she glanced at it.

Blake's eyes went to the patrolman while she rubbed her hands. He had similar thoughts. "Invest in a pair of gloves for yourself. Maybe even some wrist guards."

Blake sighed as she flexed her hands. "Should I be getting some other stuff then?"

"Only if you want to keep fighting hand to hand down the road. You just need to last for the first six months. When you pass parole you will be able to get a weapon. For now, you will need to tough it out. The only time you will really need to face grim will be at initiation. And no, I was not supposed to say that. But you need to know. After that, you can fight it out in sparring sessions. Professor Goodwitch is aware of your limitations and will adjust the class for you accordingly. That will likely be less combat for you at the start of the term but more than your fair share as you approach the six months when you had time to practice hand to hand combat."

Blake nodded. Weirdly, that made her feel a lot better. Like it was doable. "Thank you Mr. Arc."

Jaune smiled as he stood up in a single fluid motion. Blake was envious of how little effort that seemed to have taken from him. "Of course Miss Belladonna. Let me know if you need anything else. If you are willing, you can come here at eight every morning."

Blake stood up with a grunt. After today's spar, it all felt like it could work. "I think I will."

-o-

Jaune felt relieved as Miss Belladonna walked out of the stadium. She seemed much lighter on her feet in spite of the mornings practice. He clicked open his scroll and saw a message from Coco.

 _How did the girl do?_

Jaune sent a reply that she would show up tomorrow. He was happy he did not scare the girl off. But Miss Belladonna would need a new weapon in time. That's something he could think about later. He needed to see if there were anything regarding laws for convicts. "That girl is going to be an ongoing thing, isn't she?" he wondered to himself. At least it was only one girl.

Jaune went to his apartment to clean up. He still had evidence he would need to go over for that train case. He also wanted to make it back out to Junior's tonight. Information to confirm as well as to sell. Jaune would never disclose any information that would place Vale in danger, but he could still make small inquiries about unclaimed thefts. The contents of the train was the biggest concern.

Jaune quickly cleaned himself up in his apartment before he settled down in front of the train report Ozpin had passed to him. Miss Belladonna was convinced that the White Fang's newest target would be Vale. But how Taurus would start that fight was Jaune's job to predict and prevent.

That led to the biggest question about the whole incident. And one Jaune was not sure he would ever get an answer. What was Adam Taurus target on the train? Miss Belladonna believed it was to carry out his sabotage plan. But he would not have needed anything beyond the carts where the two had fought for him to succeed.

Miss Belladonna was certainly not the first target. She would have been dead if she was. The White Fang leader was angry that Miss Belladonna broke the train connectors. He wanted something on the engine side. Jaune would have to reluctantly agree since Taurus only left after the droids were alerted and the carts were disconnected. He did not even look to see if he actually killed the girl.

The carts on the engine side of the train had nothing of real value for the kind of goals the White Fang were after.

Those carts contained nothing of military value. All the security droids and control centers were further down the train. The cart order had been in place since the train initially left Mistral's depot. The carts contained farming equipment, replacement tires, silk, cotton. Trade goods. There was nothing there that would be a target for the White Fang. Jaune stared at the cart listings that were taped along his wall. The fighting on that train only stopped because the other carts were not flatbeds. Both Belladonna and Adam Taurus would have known how the train works. Had she stayed firmly with the White Fang, they easily could have boarded the train and done whatever they wanted without anyone being the wiser.

Jaune stopped that thought and closed his eyes.

"Shit."

Jaune opened his scroll and tapped into the VTS channel. The line opened with a woman receptionist greeting him. "Vale Transportation Services how may I direct your call?"

"Jaune Arc Patrolman for Beacon Academy. I wish to speak to Albert Roselink on a secure line. It's urgent." The woman held the line and nearly a minute passed while Jaune placed his vest on and started making his way down the stairs. The council would be in session for another three hours.

"This is Roselink, did you find something Jaune?"

"I think I may have found what the intruders were after. Can you send a worldwide transportation communications to all trains coming into Vale. All trains must slow four miles out of Vale before they approach the city. Have security prepared to evacuate the site if the train does not slow down."

"That's a tall order Jaune. What did you find?"

"I think Adam Taurus was planning on killing all the train crew members on that train. But he was alone on that attack. If he wasn't stealing anything, I can only think of one thing he was planning to do with a train coming into Vale. He did not plan for it to stop."

The head of the VTS swore. "I can only keep that going for twenty four hours before the Council can tell me to rescind the order. But I'll start the order now."

"I'm going directly to the council to make my case. If they rescind my order, it's up to you to make as many precautionary steps as possible."

"Good luck." Roselink grunted to get out of his chair as the line closed.

-o-

Jaune stared at himself from the reflection of the window. He could not look less presentable. He had no suit jacket or slacks like the last time. Jaune just wore his blue jersey and jeans. _At least i'm walking in feeling comfortable_. Jaune knew he would need every bit of support to face the council. Jaune knew he was asking a lot this time. The trains were planned months in advance. Changing anything in regards to the transport system would throw everything in Vale off.

"They are ready to see you Mr. Arc."

Jaune thanked Norman as he walked in. Jaune spotted the now familiar faces of every councilman. It was a pity he could not place a name to any of them except Mr. Julian. "I am sorry for interrupting your meeting councilman, but I found a concern that needs to be brought to your attention."

"Go ahead patrolman."

Jaune set down his scroll and asked Norman to connect it. "Forgive the lack of report and presentation. I was reviewing the evidence and looking for a motive for Adam Taurus. If the White Fang was successful in disabling the droids. How would they still draw the grim to the city? What could they do to form a level of distress and distrust in Vale?" Jaune glanced as a few of the councilmen. The woman, and elder sea captain man and the middle aged man with the shaggy mustache were the most vocal in his last meeting. They were the ones he needed to convince.

"In my investigation through the train I noticed something about the train carts that Adam Taurus had attempted to reach." Jaune projected the list of items listed on the carts. Several Councilors looked bored as they noticed the number of non-important contents for trade.

"Councilmen. What you see is a list of all content of those carts Adam Taurus was attempting to reach but failed due to the separation of the train carts. As you have noted, nothing in this list stands out to risk a neck over."

Jaune changed to the next image. It was labeled to all the train railways that entered the city. "The train that was attacked was one of four railways that have a straight rail line into the city. The other seventeen have to make some kind of curved approached to meander through the cities highways to get to the train station." Jaune noticed he got a few of the council's attention with the new map.

"What if the White Fang's plan this time was not to adjust the droids like previous plans. What if they had planned to commandeer the train itself. Trains do not need to be going very fast in some of the more winding sections to derail. The train that was attacked was a straight line into the center of the city. If Adam Taurus plan was to cause doubt in the safety of the city. This would be the quickest way."

"You said they wanted to announce that they were here. This would be a way they could have done it." The sea captain added for Jaune's benefit.

"This also implies that if they did not need the droids on the train, then they already had already completed their first objective with the eastern front."

The young woman looked at the rest of the council. None of them seemed willing to say what they thought. "You do not know this Mr. Arc. But we have already requested for Atlas to send their engineers to look at our droids. But it cost us. The Vytal Festival will go through as planned only because we have committed resources we could not recuperate if we cancelled it. Believe us when we say we take this threat seriously. But we are already in debt and have already broken into next year's budget to get Atlas here. I have taken on the role of public relations for crisis situations personally. We are not sure what we can do regarding this information. What would you have originally proposed with no budget limit?"

Jaune felt his chest constrict at the comment. He took a moment to gather his thoughts. "What I had wanted originally was not possible. The trains are the cities life blood. I have a twenty four hour order for trains to be required to slow as they approach Vale within four miles. But I know we can not sustain it. The trains are already out of sync for their schedules. I wanted to originally establish checkpoints for observers of the trains as they made their approach to Vale. Require a slow down as the trains entered the city. You can't stop a train once it starts. But if we can get more information before it happens we can react with an evacuation order. I want places that the train would most likely be derailed to be no man zones. Mr. Roselink would be the best man to find those weaknesses."

"The look outs are not possible at this time. The slow down of the trains is not viable that far out either. That is too far for a train to be going that slow."

Jaune agreed. The train he rode into Vale was at a snail's pace for the final ten miles and that nearly took eight hours on its own.

"But two miles. Just before they entered the city limits would work. If a train was going so fast to break that order, we would know about it well before the two mile mark. They would still need to decelerate before they hit the perimeter." One of the councilmen said while he stood up and looked at the train lines on the screen.

"But even that can't last forever. The markets will go down. Businesses noticed the trains were off already. An hour added to every train delivery will be a talking point among the news outlets."

Jaune thought quickly. "Have Mr. Roselink appointed to another position for VTS safety on top of his current one. Let the news go with that. He is just acclimating to the new job."

The woman smiled and opened her console. "I think it's a good idea. But it can't last forever. We need a time period."

Another councilmember said, "Two weeks is the usual grace period."

Jaune frowned and shook his head. "If we are working with borrowed time I'll make it my priority to find the White Fang in and out of the city. But two weeks would not be possible if the goal is to find it in that time."

"Jaune would you be so kind to step outside for a bit. I think we need to debate over this."

Jaune nodded as he walked out and slumped against the wall. The door was closed but he could hear the harsh voices over the whole proposal. Jaune could clearly hear a few were not totally convinced. Jaune wrapped the knowledge that they believed him from the first meeting like a security blanket. Jaune kept his eyes closed as he willed his thoughts to believe in himself. If he didn't believe his own words, the council never will.

Jaune pulled out his scroll to look at the time and smiled at the message from Coco.

 _Miss you!_

The scroll closed shut. He tapped the scroll against his forehead. He clicked it open, _Want to go out tomorrow morning after practice? I have a feeling that will be the last time I'm going to see you for a long while._

Jaune sent the message and closed the scroll. He ignored the answering buzz. Time passed in silence as Jaune waited to be re-invited back in. Two hours later as dusk settled in, the doors opened. Norman looked as exhausted as the councilmen. He gestured for Jaune to walk back in. Jaune took his spot in front of the table. Each councilman looked to the woman. She glanced at her console.

"I am sorry for the length of deliberation Mr. Arc. There were other things you were not privy to that you should be aware of. Atlas had been a good friend. With the cost of the engineers coming to Vale within the next two weeks, Atlas has offered General Ironwood along with his armada to come and oversee the defense of Vale."

Jaune nodded slightly. He understood what that meant to him and to the investigation. If the council took Atlas' offer, they will have to admit that Jaune was unable to satisfy the terms of his contract. He would be removed from the case. And possibly removed as an option as a patrolman down the road.

Judging by the reluctance of a few councilmen at that, it did not look like it was a step they were willing to take.

"We have decided to hold off on the offer. But we can not keep that with your growing evidence. You are correct. Two weeks is too short. But we fear waiting for too long will invite disaster."

"If you have decided to postpone taking Atlas' offer, how much time do I have?"

"One month. We know it's unrealistic. But we can only keep the enforced rule on the trains for one month. During that time, you need to find the White Fang presence and detain or cripple the organizations efforts in Vale. At that time if you can not, we reluctantly have to hand over the security of Vale over to Atlas."

Jaune had only been thinking of the people who would become victims. It was just now that she had mentioned Vale as a whole that he realized that Vale would effectively surrender sovereignty to another nation. Jaune took a few awkward moments before he nodded.

"Many of us have our concerns about you Jaune Arc." The woman gave her best poker face as she did not look at anyone but Jaune himself. "But in this we must provide a unified front. Good luck Patrolman. Our full powers are authorized to you. Find the White Fang and stop them."

Jaune bowed slightly before he excused himself. He did not know what they meant when they said full powers. But he found out shortly after when several aids met him at the door. Jaune was given long term emergency powers status. The city departments were to be made aware to respond to him without consulting the Council.

Jaune's hand shook as he walked out of the building and into the waiting car to take him to Beacon. Jaune watched as the street lights passed. Jaune watched another city block pass. The highway hummed as the car drove over the concrete road. The highway lifted over several buildings giving Jaune plenty of time to view the city below him as it made its way to the bullhead that would take him to Beacon.

 _This is what is at stake._ Jaune reminded himself. Koben had said that a good patrolman predicts and acts. Jaune felt he did that. But now. So many things were out of his control. There were two weeks where there would be no engineers to make sure the robots were safe. Any train now could be an incoming missile. And those were only the plans Jaune had a clue about.

 _And four weeks before Vale hands over its control to another country. Because inaction would be the destruction of Vale._ Jaune knew there was a major factor in the Council's willingness to hand over control to Atlas. It was the only way the council could protect Vale, not from outside threats, but from itself. If Jaune failed, the people would lose trust in just him. Jaune knew that would hurt if that happened but he could accept that. If Atlas took control and a successful attacked happened… Then Atlas would assume responsibility. So long as the people trusted and believed in Vale. The city… the country would still survive. As soon as the people would lose trust in Vale, they would be inviting grim into the city.

It would be the end of it all.

Jaune looked where they were passing and slapped the back side of the driver's seat. Jaune quickly pulled off the blue vest and hoodie, leaving himself in a black tee-shirt. "Let's make a stop here. I just need to speak to someone before we go back."

The driver noticed where Jaune was asking to go and nodded as he made the turn.

Junior's was an active place tonight. The music was dimmed in exchanged for the droning voices of hundreds of people at tables and booths. One of the Malachites recognized his face as he walked into the door. He waved four fingers at her before he walked up to the bouncer that stood in front of the elevator. The man easily had several inches on Jaune and looked over his red shades. "The fourth floor."

The bouncer nodded as he stepped back and hit the fourth level button.

The fourth floor was for special requests. Like the other upper floors, it opened to a view of the dance floor below. But unlike the others, there was sound proof glass that separated the level to the sounds below. Jaune walked into the blissful silence of the fourth floor and waited at the elevator entrance.

Several of Junior's men walked to him each with an axe in hand. Two of them relaxed when they saw his face. "Sorry gentlemen. It is short notice. I need to speak to Junior. Just five minutes when he is available. I got all night." Jaune leaned back against the wall to wait. The group left him there. Jaune did not know how long he stood against the wall. But Junior himself walked out of one of the rooms. He had no shades but his face was business as usual.

"Jaune. This way please."

Jaune followed the older man into a private room. The high class leather furniture seemed out of place for a club. But the liquor cabinet and the serving table didn't. Jaune took a seat when Junior did. "What brings you today?"

Jaune had debated on if he should have taken this information to Junior. But now that he was effectively the voice of Vale... "Are you aware of the new leader of the White Fang."

Junior smiled. "I am not."

"I am not looking for a quick buck Junior. This is for Vale. In exchange, I need to know if any new groups enter the city. I am not expecting details. Just to be made aware if anyone comes into the city to set up shop."

Junior looked at the teen. Jaune was unsure what Junior saw, but the older man put away his scroll. "I can give you from the last three weeks to the coming eight."

Jaune nearly allowed himself to relax at the news. Instead, "Adam Taurus." Jaune describe the man and how long he had been the leader. He also decided to describe what is done to deserters.

Junior made several notes before he closed his small personal notepad. "No one has come in to Vale in the last three weeks."

Juane nearly smiled in spite of himself. The intended implication that a party Junior wanted to protect came in a month ago was not lost on Jaune.

"I have one group coming in next week I know about. He will be the new contractor. Muscle for some of the families. He is a leader of a mercenary group. You'll probably be seeing them on both sides if you pay attention. I'll let you know if I can confirm others for you."

"Thank you Junior. I have to go. And Junior?"

Junior looked up surprised.

"Avoid the trains when you can."

Junior looked at him curiously but take the advice at face value.

-o-

Jaune was unsure what he felt when he walked into his apartment. He removed his vest and set it on the back of a dining room chair. Jaune knew he was going through the motions. He had so much hope that the Council would see his worries were justified and they would take every step to safeguard Vale. But the reality was a hard pill to swallow. The council had limits just like everything else. Whether it was money or man power or time, there were only so many things they could do.

Jaune would take the victories where he could. The train depot was the key stone. The White Fang need a catalyst to instill fear and doubt to draw the grim. So long as Vale believed in its Council, Vale would stand.

So why was he so...

Lost? Confused? Terrified?

Yeah, Jaune felt all those things. He set down his scroll. His initial impulse was to look for Coco. Her smile usually cheered him up. Having her in his arms would be a comfort. But he didn't think he could face her right now. Coco was a saint for not asking about anything he did. But felt he would accidently share this just to get it off his chest. He could not burden her with that. Just- not tonight. She must have been asleep for hours now anyway. Jaune felt every second pound into his ears to the beat of his heart. Four weeks. It was not enough time.

Jaune closed his eyes and willed himself to rest. He would need it. When nothing came, he lifted his scroll. It was nearly two in the morning. Jaune opened his scroll and noticed he never did see the message Coco sent him. The message was an image of her self-indulgent smile over a slice of cake. _I look forward to it._ Was written in text along with the picture. Her warm glow and upturned lip eased his heart. It was enough that it allowed him to close his drowsy eyes.

Jaune knew he was not ready for what was coming. He knew Vale was not prepared.

Jaune hoped. He prayed that the next time he woke up, it was not because he received a call that told him people died by a train that crashed into Vale.

Because no one was ready.

A/N: I somehow got another chapter done before the end of the year! Really thrilled for that actually. Here is the start of the White Fang arc. I am trying to shoot for the next chapter to be up by the end of February.


	7. Chapter 7 The Days After

Jaune woke up from his doze shortly after the light touched his face. Red sleepless eyes looked around to the scroll. He sighed in relief as he got out of bed. _No call._

It was both a good and a bad sign. If the White Fang did not follow through with their plan immediately after it was discovered, then they would pull back and plan again. It was too risky for them to attack now that the trains were slowed. And there was no way the White Fang would not have noticed the changes happening in Vale.

Jaune was still unsure how he would combat the information the White Fang would pick up in the city. But this one sleepless night would be the worst one. He had time now. A shower an hour later, Jaune opened his scroll and glanced at the clock before he dialed out. It was seven in the morning, but with everyone on high alert, he wouldn't be surprised if the office remained opened all through the night.

"This is Jaune Arc. I just have a request. Back in Anvil we had an emergency CCT beacon. How many do we have in Vale and how long would it take to prepare them for launch?"

Jaune nodded his head at the reply. It was more than he was expecting. "Let me know when they are prepared. Thank you."

Jaune smiled as he already had an idea to help him with his search. Half an hour later, a more awake and alert Patrolman was out the door for CFVY's morning training. Jaune did not look forward to breaking the news it would be his final one with CFVY for the foreseeable future.

-o-

Blake laid on the grass doing her best to fill her lungs with air. Next to her, Velvet whimpered as her aura actually did shatter with a potent combo she was not able to stop. Blake sympathized with her. The handcuffs were not the same as actually having your aura broken. Blake still felt the latent strength in her body even if she didn't actually use her aura. Velvet was likely feeling like a puddle of liquified muscles.

Blake looked up and squinted in the morning sun. "How are you feeling Velvet?"

The girl moaned and rolled to her side to get up. "Pretty sure I bruised something that I will not show you Jaune."

The Patrolman smiled as he looked over at Blake herself, "Miss Belladonna are you alright?"

"I'll be fine in a few more minutes. Nothing hurts too bad."

The patrolman nodded. "Good, nothing like experience will help you both now. If you can keep up with a patrolman's speed, there will not be too many grim that will really be a threat to you in an all out fight. It will be the smart ones you will have to look after." The solemn end of the patrolman's voice surprised Blake. She looked over to Velvet and realized there was probably a story there.

Blake watched as Mr. Arc turned around and called out to the other members of Team CFVY to come together. The officer looked at his scroll. "Looks like we are done here. Miss Belladonna? Would you please escort Velvet to the medical wing? She should get checked out just in case." He turned to Velvet with an apologetic look. "I am sorry Velvet. You kept the tempo for so long."

"My fault Jaune. I should have said I was going too fast to keep up the pace for long." She hobbled onto her feet and rubbed her hip where Jaune had caught her kick and wrapped her thigh in his arms. He had used her thigh as leverage to slam her on her back into the wall. The loud crack of glass that resounded in the air was enough for Jaune to cradle her head by the neck and lay her down while calling for everyone to stop.

"Just the same, have the back of your head checked too. Let me know if anything serious is found."

Velvet sighed. "I guess I'm sitting out for tomorrow's practice then."

Blake understood the feeling. Her own aura took some time to recover when she was on a heavily fought mission. Going from zero aura to full could take a day and a half or even longer.

The patrolman scratched the back of his head. "I actually needed to talk to you all about that. I will no longer be able to attend these training sessions. With class starting, I will need to start to focus on my job on campus. I'll probably be out in the city or out of Vale City for the next month or so."

There was a round of disappointed noises. Blake noticed this was news to Coco to since she smacked his elbow and a look from over her shades that promised something unpleasant would be said later.

-o-

Jaune resisted the urge to gasp when Coco hugged him from behind. Her slender arms wrapped around his torso and tugged on his blue t-shirt. Coco's chin rested on his shoulder. Her curious brown eyes looked at him with concerned. Wordlessly, she kept her arms there until he relaxed. She pecked his cheek and said nothing as she took his hand.

Jaune felt guilty. It wasn't easy to force himself to relax in the city. Coco knew something was bothering him and she did her best to distract him. _She's good at that._ Jaune thought as he was led by the hand around the park. The live music blared in the waning days of summer. Jaune danced with Coco until she burned through the little energy she had left from the morning training session.

Eventually Jaune twirled her one more time before he leaned in and whispered, "Let's take a break. I'll need to head back soon."

Coco agreed and did her best to cover a yawn. She gently pushed him when she caught him laughing. "This doesn't count as a date when I'm this tired. We'll have to go out again another week."

Jaune gave her a regretful look. "Sorry, I'm not sure if I can make that promise any time soon."

Coco sat down on a park table and sighed. "Didn't hurt to try. I figured it was serious when you asked me out." She simply laced her fingers with his from across the table.

The conversation quickly changed to her classes that would resume next Monday. That rolled into what Jaune knew he would do as an aid to the teachers at Beacon. Jaune allowed her questions to lambaste him as she found out he was given a new roll at the school literally days ago. Even in jest by the other professors, Coco knew that if Jaune was running to detentions, she had all sorts of ammunition to tease him.

Jaune laughed and coughed at the same time, "No Coco. I am not giving you detentions to spend time with you."

The afternoon came sooner than either of them liked. Jaune could not repress the smile after Coco finally let her self yawn one more time and pressed the button to her dorms' floor. The elevator hummed while he let his mind wander. He knew he ran CFVY harder than they were used to. The image of Miss Belladonna laying on the floor with a groan made Jaune laugh. Coco tilted her head.

"Just thinking of Miss Belladonna laying on the ground in a heap after training this morning."

Coco giggled. "Pretty sure Velvet snuck a picture in there somewhere. I'll ask."

Coco had been very quiet as soon as they got to the dorm. Jaune took her hand before she opened the door and pulled her close. "Thank you for coming out with me today. It was short notice. I am sure you had plans."

Coco pressed her cheek to his as she hugged him. "Thank you for thinking of me." She hugged him tighter.

Jaune sighed. "I try." Jaune tried his best all day to focus on her. It would be the last date in some time. It may be the last time he could see her in his free time for that matter. He was only able to steal this afternoon because he was waiting for a call back from the CCT. If they had called him right away during training… Coco would have had to have to be sidelined.

Coco must have understood how guilty Jaune felt. She looked up and cupped his cheeks in her hands. Her eyes were on his as she whispered, "I know."

Coco opened the door and pulled him in. Jaune was surprised at the gesture. He had expected the date to end there. He glanced at clock on the dorm wall. The date should have ended here. Miss Belladonna should be at the office in an hou-

The team dorm was empty.

Jaune cautiously looked over to his girlfriend. She seemed to not notice the sudden tension he felt by being in what was effectively his girlfriends bedroom.

Jaune walked into the dorm as Coco hopped over to sit on her bed.

Jaune sat next to her and gave a silent 'mmm' as he was pulled to lay next to her. Jaune let his arm rest around her shoulder. Coco reached for his hand when his chest rumbled against her ear. "I haven't been out to Central Park in the last few weeks. I didn't know there would have been a free concert this late into summer."

Coco leaned into him. She yawned one more time before she tapped his shoulder in a mocking hit. "It was good, but did you have to tire us out the day we were going to go out?"

Jaune laughed and pulled her closer until his lips were against her hair. He hummed appreciatively at the scent of cinnamon and peach. "Sorry about that. I'll miss working the morning training sessions."

Coco mm'ed in agreement. She rolled on her side and hugged his side again. "Something's going on then." Coco said it more as a fact than as a question. Jaune simply pulled her shoulder tighter and kissed her head. Coco relaxed into the sign of affection. "I'll miss seeing you in the mornings too you know."

"We can still message each other in the morning. But I know it won't be the same."

Coco sat up and grunted. "Your going somewhere again?"

Jaune sighed as he sat up. _I guess the date's over if she wants to talk about this._ He thought to himself. He licked his lips while he thought what he wanted to say. "The third years will be going out to the outskirts of the city to thin the Grim. I will be going along to observe incase they find something other than grim. Nothing too serious. It got me thinking about the long shifts. And I don't think you have ever told me of a time where your team had to fight for hours on end. I thought it would be a good thing to see how you all did."

Coco frowned at him through one eye and sighed. "That's such a half truth." Before Jaune knew it, she tackled him back onto the bed. "That's fine. I won't ask. I just want to enjoy this." She laced her fingers in his.

Jaune held her hand and looked at the ceiling. "You are awfully considerate about this. I had thought you would have been asking questions to Mistral and back after our first date."

Coco laughed. She had been a hellion to grill him on everything about his trip around Vale. She coughed and cleared her throat. Jaune smiled at her embarrassed blush. Eventually she admitted, "You have Yatsuhashi to thank for that."

Jaune wrapped his arms around hers and laid on Coco's pillow while she used his shoulder as her's. Both seemed content to stare at the ceiling. "How so?"

"Something he said stuck with me. Yatsu actually warned me about you, you know." Jaune raised an eyebrow. Coco just smiled and kissed him sweetly in an affectionate peck on the lips. "It was when I had declared to the team I would start to date you before they came back to Beacon." Jaune smiled at the confidence. He had a feeling she actually said that before she had seen him in Vale months ago.

"Yatsuhashi knew the patrolman in his hometown. Yatsu said the guy was an old man who let the job wear him down. Yatsu warned me you could end up like that. Patrolman see too much. How did he say it? 'Huntsmen may see the worst of nature. But Patrolmen see the worst of what we do to ourselves.' It just stuck with me." Coco felt him tense. The observation hit him more than he was willing to admit. Coco leaned in to kiss him. She only pulled back after he relaxed into the kiss.

"I guess Yatsu was right." Coco murmured more to herself.

Jaune looked down his chest and caught her caring and patient eyes looking back. Words failed him. Coco positioned herself so her head was on his chest. She mmm'ed before she looked up to him. "Your heart is beating fast again."

Jaune smiled. "You do that a lot."

"Make amazing observations?" She asked coyly.

Jaune buried his face in her hair, "Make my heart beat. Love you."

Coco grinned and placed her ear against his chest again. "I knew _that_ the moment you started to sing only for me."

-o-

Jaune walked back to his office. The warm feeling in his chest lingered with him all the way. The patrolman waved to Miss Belladonna who stood in front of his office. "Good afternoon Miss Belladonna."

"Hello Sir. You wanted to see me?"

Jaune unlocked his office door and walked in with her following in. "I had a few questions on how you remember the White Fang used to work."

Blake sat down and rested her hands on her lap. Jaune noticed the way the bow twitched at the mention of the terrorist group.

"What would those be Sir?"

Jaune set down a notepad instead of his scroll. It was something he used to do to take notes before Vale gave Anvil the scrolls years ago. Jaune liked having all of his notes on the table at the same time when he reviewed them later.

"Does Adam like to work on things personally? He was on the train, but you seemed surprised it was him when you tried to stop the train."

Blake seemed to wilt under the question. She flushed slightly as she looked away. "I shouldn't have been surprised he was there. But I was surprised he was by himself. He likes to keep everyone in pairs. During the fight I was half expecting someone to come out and finish me when I didn't see them." Blake shuddered at the memory.

Jaune wrote it down along with a note to himself. _Does not have a new partner?_

"How does Adam normally react when a plan succeeds?"

Blake leaned back in her chair as she thought about all the successes in those final months. "He is always really happy. He never cheered or laugh with anyone. He just had this quiet smile and would take the time to congratulate everyone before he moved on to the next thing. He never allowed us to celebrate for too long. He always said 'a victory makes the next one easier'." Blake closed her eyes as she thought about the good times. She sighed and shook her head.

"How does he react when a plan fails?"

"He brushes it off. So long as no one got hurt, Adam was happy. There are so few of us." Blake almost felt sorry for that fact. She looked down and Jaune allowed her the moment. Jaune had got a reply from Atlas that morning. Many of the militant White Fang came from the survivors of a walk out in one of the dust mines. An Atlas soldier panicked during the incident and fired a shot. An accidental, perfect shot that flew into the empty mine. The dust chain reacted and killed many of the walkouts at the mouth of the mine. _Close kinship to survivors of the Dust Walkout of thirty-three._

"How did others take the news of the White Fangs change in leadership?"

"A lot of us were confused. At least our group had been so far away from Sienna for so long that we did not know what was going on. Adam had gone on his own to speak with her while the rest of us got ready to get some information on an attack in Atlas that ultimately failed."

"Did Adam seem different when he came back? I would have thought if he resumed leadership of the White fang, he would have stayed in Atlas."

Blake stared at him confused before she gasped. "You didn't know…" Blake shook her head free of those assumptions. "The White Fang left Atlas."

Jaune looked up. "What?"

"Adam pulled them out of the country. There aren't many members but he announced that until they could make Atlas react to their cause, there was no point in fighting Atlas. It was better to move to a place where we could make a difference."

Jaune wrote the notes and made a star next to calling Winter Schnee to corroborate the information on the lack of attacks. Blake squirmed as Jaune wrote another page of notes of what he would want to do next.

"I had been curious of one thing." Jaune finally interrupted the silence. "Why Vale?"

Blake sighed. "He decided to target Atlas' export industry. We would be less public to the people of Atlas. With enough time we could recover our image. We were upset at first that he decided to stop targeting the Atlas government. Why did we lose so many lives if we were giving up? But he convinced us that if we want to hurt Atlas where it counted, it would be in their pocket book. They would listen if their bottom line was threatened. That still did not sit well with a few people. Vale is not known for having as much discrimination. And several famous people in Vale had stood for Faunus rights."

Jaune stopped his pen and realized he needed speak to quite a few people to determine how much of an impact that could have had.

"Thank you Miss Belladonna. You have been very helpful. One final question. How fast would Adam try another attack after a failed one?"

Blake frowned as she thought about it. "It depended on how the first one failed. If anyone got injured or if there were a lot of preparations. Adam had a few he thought would fail and had set up a backup plans to happen within a week."

Jaune looked at his pad and wrote: _White fang may take a week to undetermined amount of time for contingency plan. White fang took months to prepare Vale attack. Infrastructure for their current plan is still in effect until Atlas military come in to address the robots._

Jaune set the pen down and sighed. "Again, thank you for your help. How are you settling in?"

Blake relaxed at the question. It seemed the hard questions were over. "It's alright. Velvet has me sparring with her every day." Blake looked at her trimmed nails. They had been too long and Blake was surprised how much she prized them when Velvet made the suggestion. "I am getting used to it. But I am not sure how I would do against a grim with just my hands."

Jaune looked at the bow on her head. "You do technically have something you are allowed to use."

Blake looked at him and frowned. "What's that? I'm not allowed weapon or dust."

Jaune smiled and looked at the top of Blake's head. "Those aren't the only weapons students use. You huntsmen in training are creative. You are a weapon against the grim, but so is everything you wear."

Blake looked at her clothes before she realized what the patrolman was getting at. She touched her bow as if to protect it. "My bow?"

"It's a cord of cloth that you had been using aura to keep static. You think I didn't notice that it did not budge no matter how I tossed you around this morning? With your aura it could handle the stress to bind or give yourself leverage."

Blake swallowed and deliberately let the ribbon go. She didn't like when he brought up the bow. It was as if she felt threatened at being exposed. But she also knew he was doing it on purpose. She didn't miss the fact it was Velvet that was helping her despite the fact that Fox was the better hand to hand fighter.

"I-I'm not sure I am ready to take off the bow."

Jaune gave a slight smile in support. "That's fine. But you could also keep another ribbon on yourself to use as well. It's just an idea I had. If it makes you feel uncomfortable you don't have to listen to me."

Jaune stood and Blake rose to meet him. "Thank you again for your time Miss Belladonna."

Blake nodded as she started to walk out. She paused at the door. "Velvet was bullied for being a faunus."

Jaune stopped and took a moment to answer, "She was. You said it yourself, Vale is not as bad as Atlas, but we still have our pockets of racism and bias. But you also know that there are many people fighting against it. If you decide to come out as a faunus, you may get some of that during your stay, but you will find many more people accepting you for who you are. Team Coffee has seem to take a liking to you right away. An extra pair of ears isn't going to change that."

Blake continued walking out of the door without a word. Jaune watched her go and was curious what she would do.

-o-

 _Patrolman get to the club_

 _Now_

Jaune closed his scroll as he ran across the city. He was not expecting a call from Junior this late at night and the demand made him sweat. His hood covered his hair in a tight knot to make sure it did not fly off while he ran. Jaune felt conscious of the patrolman jersey. It would be the first time he ever wore it to the club. Jaune took two large leaps against the side of a building and cleared the cross street in moments. He ignored the honks of car horns beneath him and resumed his run. This time of night had few people on the side walks. It was just the cars he had to worry about on those blind jumps to clear traffic.

His scroll rang and he answered it as he kept the steady rhythm of his legs. "Patrolman Arc."

"This is VPD dispatch. We have a request for your presence at 1322 Birch." Jaune recognized the address as Junior's.

"Already on my way, I received a personal contact for my presence. What happened?"

"Girl started a bar fight. Police are unable to enter the private lodge. Huntsmen are on site."

"Have a squad car on stand-by while I investigate. I may need to transport someone to county."

"Affirmative." The line went dead.

Jaune could almost hear the annoyance in the other man's voice over the phone. VPD never did like to be reminded there are places they can not enforce the law.

It took Jaune almost thirty minutes to get to Junior's and most of that was just waiting for the bullhead readied for flight from Beacon.

Melanie was waiting outside. She opened the door and grabbed his shoulder to walk him in. She whispered in his ear, "Hurry. There is about to be a bloodbath if the older families have their way. Hei is stalling. But the huntsmen are not helping."

Jaune casually glanced at the several men being attended to for some kind of fight. A few panes of glass were shattered on the floor that was being cornered off. Above him on the second floor he could hear several groups angrily whispering and stop quickly when they spotted his hooded face walking across the dance floor.

Melanie escorted him to the elevator and pressed the fourth floor. She fidgeted slightly until the doors opened. Jaune wondered what he just walked into as he was escorted to a room similar to the one he had last visited. Just larger with the addition of several leather couches. Jaune walked past several huntsmen who stood near the inside of the door. They nodded to his vest and stepped back to give him room. Kneeling on the floor were two girls just shy of his age. Jaune glared at the guns pointed at the back of their heads. Behind the two were several _families_ lounging on furniture. Jaune glanced and very nearly did a double take when he recognized one of girls.

 _Qrows' little protege._

Her scared silver eyes looked to have been crying. But they were easy to recognize. The Blonde… Jaune frowned.

-o-

Yang shifted nervously on her knees. The tears had long since dried at the news. She could worry about that later. Ruby knelt next to her and did her best to glare a defiant look as if daring them to start a fight. Yang was not sure if anyone was buying it. The blonde nearly hitched a breath at the thought of the gun against her sisters' head. Yang showed a brave face for Ruby. Yang knew her little sister would panic if she did anything else. They could not afford panic.

Yang was not sure what she had expected when she came here to ask her questions. But as soon as that _Junior_ guy gave her an answer she knew was a lie, Yang could not help that she got angry. Yang knew she made a mistake when the two women that stood next to him interfered and pushed her back. Ruby, bless her heart intervened the best she could without a weapon. It was enough for the two sisters to fight back briefly.

Yang would be the first to admit she honestly thought she could take the two. But not the fifteen others that dropped from the second floor. She only realized how it spiraled out of control as yells from huntsmen joined and aided them in a standoff. Yang recognized a few on both sides had started to pull on their aura. She was glad she did not follow their lead. Junior, under his red shades, screamed a reminder to the men that fought her.

'There is no aura allowed _in my house_!' His shades shined a bright red and it was as if the whole club was a single red room. It faded quickly.

Every fighter listened and obeyed. Yang heard her sister yelp as she collapsed. Yang did not feel the hit that knocked her out from behind either. She just saw the pair of white boots with blades attached when she fell to the ground.

Ruby wiggled next to her. It brought Yang back to reality.

"Junior. They should be made an example."

"Look at them. Underaged and with aura." Snarled a huntsmen. Yang looked at his pale red hair. Almost pink if it was any lighter. He looked to her and Ruby. "They are likely Academy kids. You can't touch them." He gave the two girls a reassuring smile.

Yang almost felt hope before Junior added, "I called someone who can." The huntsmen paused to look at the club owner in alarm and relaxed as he understood something Yang missed.

There was a round of grumbling from around her. Yang picked up that there were several groups who were interested in making an example out of her and Ruby. Yang eyed what she could see directly in front of her but couldn't find ember celica among the huntsmen who were there to protect them. Yang wanted to kick her self. These strangers were there to save her from herself. Yang winced as her head didn't quite turn the way she wanted it to as someone else spoke.

"You are not letting them get away with this Hei." Came an exasperated voice as if the person was talking to a younger sibling.

There seemed to be no broker for agreement on that. Instead, Junior pointed out, "I have a standing agreement with Beacon and the huntsmen. Just as I have a standing agreement with the families. You know this. Their representative is coming now. Just wait. At least see what he can offer in reparations if you are that confident in fighting Beacon."

The man faltered there but scowled as he turned away to pace in front of his group who sat patiently on the couch. Yang did her best to pick out as much information as she could. The group on her left and behind her seemed confident. The one that just barked and the group next to them on her right seemed shy and eager to prove themselves. The other three groups that sat directly behind her seemed to be here only to observe what was to happen. They were dead silent.

Those groups did not fill Yang with any confidence. They had no care what really happened to her sister and her. Yang felt the weapon that pressed against her back with a warning as she adjusted her knees. "Sorry, my knees hurt kneeling for so long."

There was a snort as the weapon eased back slightly out of her hair. She breathed through her nose to calm herself. No sense in getting into even more trouble at the smell of gun oil in her hair. Ruby did that enough times whenever they hugged.

The women in red walked up to Junior and whispered into the man's ear. He looked at Yang. She could almost see something akin to relief before he looked away and announced, "He's here."

Yang grimaced. That would mean that it would be a professor. Come to save them. That's one way to give a first impression. She looked over to Ruby who looked relieved, embarrassed and guilty. The poor girl wouldn't even see this teacher for another two years. Maybe they would forget about this by then?

The door opened and Yang's heart sank. A man walked in with a grey hoodie that had the hood drawn tight to cover his hair. His face was nearly shadowed by the hood and a tuft of blonde hair covered his eyes. His mouth was formed in a frown as he looked at the two of them. She took all this in, but it was what else he wore that made her heart sink. It was a patrolman. Yang looked to her sister and hoped she would be the only one to be arrested. She did assault the owner after all. Ruby only came to defend her.

"Good evening Junior." The greeting snapped her back to attention.

"Good evening Patrolman. We had a few party crashers and just wanted to confirm they are students before-" Yang watched as he looked over her head to see the people behind her, "We decide what to do with them. A few of the families took slight to this one's aggressive behavior."

Yang flushed when Junior gestured to her. She was not sure who the families were, but the patrolman did as he turned to them. "And what slight is that?"

Yang heard the pleasant laugh from directly behind her. It was a woman from one of the calm groups. "They had interrupted negotiations for a deal for several guards. The troupe were not familiar with Vale and took caution over any assurances I could make and left. I am now exposed to danger on my next trip thanks to them. Surely, the lives of two girls is a small price to pay for inconvenience they caused for my vacation?"

Ruby eeped next to Yang but other wised stayed silent as weapon pressed against the younger girls neck. Yang turned back to the patrolman. Her eyes were pleading to help.

"Don't push it." Warned one of the huntsmen. The patrolman waved a hand.

"Thank you for keeping the peace. But I will resume negotiations from here. I think it would be in all of our bests interests if the huntsmen step out of the room." The patrolman leaned into the man's ear and whispered something before the huntsman nodded. Five huntsmen walked out but not before glancing at the flamilies and then at Ruby and Yang.

The patrolman thanked the men one more time as they left and then addressed the woman. "Must you provoke the huntsmen?"

The woman laughed in a smug murmur. "I do like teasing little Moha. He's so serious. Well, on to negotiations then? I want compensation."

The patrolman looked at the others in the room before he said, "Pardon me for my ignorance for not knowing your name Miss. Your family does you a service for keeping such sensitive information from me. I can confirm that the youngest is a student of Signal Academy."

Yang shared a look with Ruby who just shrugged. She had no idea who he was. The patrolman continued, "I can make a guess who the older one is. She would be going to Beacon this next week. As such they are the responsibility of Beacon Academy." Yang felt herself sink into her clothes to try and hide from those hidden eyes inside the hood.

The patrolman looked up and over Yang's head. "Miss, I am aware that a new mercenary group will be arriving in Vale this coming week. Would your vacation still be uninterrupted if you wait a week to arrange for a security detail that intends to work with the families for the long term?" The patrolman raised his head and looked around the room. "Someone who is interested in working in Vale may have more of an investment in your safety than a foreign group that scatters at the first sign of trouble."

Yang could hear the pleased hum work its way into the woman's mouth. "A sound option if a little more expensive, but it still stands that the two had interrupted my evening and the evening of the others here. If it was just my time interrupted, I may have been willing to pardon this with just a favor from the girls. Bright students should always start looking for connections early."

Yang shuddered at the sweet tone.

The patrolman sounded amused. "Is that the concern with the other families this evening? Would a punishment be enough to satisfy your sense of justice?"

"What could you provide to lay down _justice_." Sneered one of the men from the loud group. Yang refused to turn her head to them. That voice had been a little too eager to deal pain as well as lay hands on her.

The patrolman raised his gloved hands. "Not me, Hei." The patrolman looked over to Junior who straightened the bottom of his suit vest before everyone could lay eyes on him. "They are two young undergraduate huntsmen. Think how much of a disadvantage they would have if they were banned from Junior's?"

Yang did not know what that meant and judging from Ruby she didn't either. But the woman and several other men from the quiet group laughed. "That would be interesting and something Hei could uphold. But what of Beacon?" Her voice was instantly cold. "They have to give up something as well. As compensation. It was their charge that disrupted business today."

Yang looked over to Junior who's shades reflected light and his mouth was in the form of a line. He did not add anything. But she had the distinct impression that he did not want to harm either her sister or herself.

Yang swallowed the moment the patrolman had walked forward and stopped a few feet in front of her sister. The patrolman turned his focus to Yang herself. He seemed satisfied with something when he stepped back. "You did not harm either of them more than necessary. I thank you for that." He said in means to ignore her demand for compensation. "I would hate to report that the families had harmed one of Beacon's children."

There was a hiss of a snarl from several men. The room was bathed in a deep red light that made the walls bleed. Yang felt it was easier to breathe now. _When did I have problems breathing?_ She noticed Ruby seemed to take several long breathes too.

The patrolman did not even flinch as his mouth snarled from under his hood. "Did you think I would fold if you threaten them with aura?"

Yang looked up and noticed Junior's glasses were glowing red. His eyes furrowed at the group on Yangs right. He looked furious. "I said no _aura_ in my house."

A new and calm voice from the back of the room behind Yang added, "Let us not devolve into threats." Yang had the distinct impression the man's voice wasn't talking to the patrolman. There was a click as she heard another weapon was put away. She swallowed when she realize it had hovered over her head. The walls faded back to normal as quickly as they appeared.

The patrolman calmly pointed out. "Please remember my lack of aura is the reason why I am sensitive to it. No more threats. Just a bargain. I do not think many of you in this room would survive the coming weeks if you test Beacon here."

Yang swallowed and willed herself to keep looking forward. Her knees ached and her throat was dry at the dead silence that followed. It lasted for nearly a minute before someone else grunted.

"We do not seek war with Beacon, but when they and their children violate the pact, there _has_ to be consequences."

The patrolman agreed. "We have violated the peace agreement. Then as a member of Beacon, how about a concession of myself? Like yourself Miss," The patrolman looked to the woman that sat directly behind Yang. "I take it you do not know my identity?"

Yang searched her memory and realized no one made a mention of anyone's name save for the owner, Junior.

"You would give that up for two little girls? I think I would rather have them in my service to be honest."

"Or your life instead." Muttered the man that held the gun against Ruby.

Yang and Ruby both inhaled a sharp gasp.

The patrolman laughed. "Our bargain is a concession to reaffirm Beacon honors the pact. Nothing more. Change is coming to Vale." Yang shuddered at the matter-of-fact-tone of the threat. "I am sure every advantage would help you survive the coming months. If you are dissatisfied with my name, Junior will happily charge you for my full file. He has it all."

The patrolman looked over to the man who just nodded. "I have it, like with all my information. It is ready at your request and payment so long as you have a name for me to search."

There was a moment of silence. Yang could not tell what was going on behind her. A bead of sweat tickled her skin at the base of her neck. She refused to rub it incase the guy with the weapon gets trigger happy. Aura or no, a shot from somewhere she could not see could still kill her.

There was an exasperated sigh from someone that was not the woman. The woman impatiently said, "Fine, fine. I have an evening to carry on. While amusing, I tire of this. What is your name Patrolman?"

Yang watched as the man loosened his hood and pulled it back. A mass of blonde hair pooled in the hood and the face of a blonde teenager stared back unflinchingly at the group of gangsters that surrounded him. His face was scuffed in places from patches of skin that never fully healed smooth. A cut on his earlobe laid open in a healed open split as if an earring was pulled from his ear and healed that way.

"Jaune Arc at your service Miss." Jaune moved his head forward slightly in a bow but his eyes were firmly ahead of him surveying the group. He seemed to smile at someone from the silent group. "You have heard of me?"

"Aye, I've heard what you did to the White Wolf. I lost good money thanks to you."

"All collateral damage, I assure you." Yang watched as a wicked smile formed on the teens mouth. That amused the group.

"I will be taking the girls now." There was a tenseness at the patrolman's' words. Yang felt the weight of the weapon press against her back slightly before it pulled back. In the corner of her eye she saw the one against her sister did the same. "Get up girls. We have places to be." Once standing, Yang felt a rough hand push her forward to the patrolman who caught both her and her sister. In a quiet whisper he said, "Whatever you do, do not look back at them."

The patrolman raised his hood again and pulled the draw string to tighten his hood. "I'll leave it up to you fine families how far my identity travels." Yang was pushed forward by Junior's ladies out of the room. The patrolman faced the group and slowly backed out as he grabbed the doors' handles. "Have a good evening."

The woman's voice carried out of the room. "It was nice meeting you Jaune."

Jaune Arc pulled the doors shut with a near silent click.

Yang had the distinct impression that last farewell destroyed the agitated atmosphere. Junior and his two women companions relaxed slightly.

Yang flinched under the steady gaze of the patrolman. The man sighed and looked over to one of the women. "Thank you Miltia. Junior, I'll be back in a moment."

Junior waved the patrolman into the elevator. Just as the door began to close, Junior stopped the door to glare at Yang and her sister. "Girls. I know who you are now. Never come back."

Yand felt Ruby nodd innocently as the door closed. Yang sighed and exhaled all the tension built up in her shoulders. She opened her eyes and realized that the white assistant bitch glare at her. She turned back to the console and hit the first floor. Without looking at her, the girl told Yang, "It will be nice to never see your stupid face again."

Yang bit her tongue as the Patrolman rested his hand on her shoulder. Yang saw the metal cap knuckles out of the corner of her eye. She nodded at the warning and resumed to look forward. Out the door and outside the club, it was her sister that hitched her voice, "Headmaster Ozpin."

Yang looked up to see the headmaster along with what seemed to be another teacher next to him. Yang started to look around and noticed the same huntsmen that had been in the room with her stood next to the headmaster. A moment later Yang realized there were another forty huntsmen standing outside of Juniors. The huntsmen had grim faces and looked ready to go to war. _They had been ready to go to war_ , Yang amended. _This very night because I wanted answers._ She repressed the sniff as the reality began to sink in. Yang knew she almost killed her sister tonight. In front of her headmaster, she could very well lose everything.

The professor looked to Patrolman Arc. "I have these two now Patrolman. You have enough on your plate."

"Thank you Ozpin. Did you want a copy of a video record? I will need to take one for my report."

"Please send me one." The headmaster turned to both girls. "Come girls, I believe we have much to discuss. But it is late, let's get you to a place to rest until tomorrow morning." The headmaster turned and led the way, over his shoulder he said comfortingly, "Things always look brighter in the mornings."

Yang felt an odd knot at those words. They comforted her more than it should have.

-o-

Jaune walked back inside. Miltia and Melanie noticed and hurried to him side by side. "Thank you." They said in unison.

"I appreciated the call. Is Junior still available?"

Melanie offered, "He is waiting in the back room. Follow me."

Jaune had never heard of a back room before. He found it was not some fancy room for high class guests, but an actual break room for the lower level floors. Junior sat at an old diner table. Aged metal and plastic seats surrounded it. Junior's shades were off and his vest was unbuttoned.

"The huntsmen are withdrawing. It will just be the families tonight." Jaune gave the man an apologetic shrug.

"Try just the drinkers tonight. I kicked the families out myself. I'm taking the night off." Junior gave the patrolman an exhausted look.

Jaune frowned at Junior's haggard look. "Are you alright Junior?"

"I think I stepped on a landmine with that kid."

Jaune shook his head. "I was not impressed with her either. With how many students you get in here, I would have thought you would have some kind of back up plan in place for that."

"I do. Why do you think those party nights are there for? Students know not to come on any other days. And I need to find out who let them in in the first place."

"I assume she came to ask a question. What did she want to know?"

"Where was Qrow Branwen."

Jaune sighed and rubbed his eyes. "You told her he was dead, didn't you?"

"Am I wrong? He's been missing since your little teacher died. I know he was part of that escort."

Jaune seemed to have a hard time swallowing that retort. "Did you know who the two girls were?"

Junior shook his head. "Just a few brats I had assumed. I guess they knew Qrow?"

"They are his nieces."

"Oh." Junior groaned and waved at the twins to get him another drink. "I guess I deserve that."

Jaune took a seat and leaned back. Militia promptly served him his usual soft drink. "The girls seem friendly tonight."

Junior laughed as he took a sip of a strong whiskey. "That little stunt of yours reimbursed the cost of the damages and then some."

"As long as they were smiling when we left, I didn't care." Jaune would have given up a lot more had the families had asked. So long as he could get those two girls to walk out safely. In the end it wasn't the girls the three major families focused on. They were more interested in testing the waters with him.

"I want to say I gave too much away, but I am surprised about the apathy all of the families showed when a patrolman was announced to be in the city."

Junior took another drink. He cleared his throat before he said, "I shouldn't have been to be honest. The ones that would be worried would be the failing families, they would not have the clout to see anything beyond public records. And the families that could, would see there are no public records. They would be smart enough to avoid accessing Beacon Academy servers. Add to that you haven't been galavanting around Vale stopping purse snatchers." Junior raised a glass.

Jaune raised his in salute. "I can see that. What are the odds they keep it to themselves?"

"Guaranteed when you gave them the option. But those families will tear through your history to see how you work and start making adjustments to their own operations. Those families will be hard for you in the future."

Jaune nodded but looked satisfied. He was not too concerned about being seen at Junior's. Likely at least one person recognized him loitering around every night. "Then like a good patrolman, I'll adapt."

Junior finished his drink. "I am sure you will." Junior snapped his fingers. "Here is the video evidence of the incident to keep the VPD happy if they ask. So long as they don't think about stepping in here."

Jaune opened his scroll as the file was transferred. The video was brief before Junior took control. Jaune raised an eyebrow at the girl as she extended her weapon. "She had no weapon on her."

Junior waved a hand and whispered something to one of his men who wore the same red shades and black suit. The man nodded before stepping away. "It's being brought over now. Do you mind some advice?"

Jaune paused the video and smiled. "How much?"

Junior shook his head. "Think of it as a return favor about the tip regarding the trains. The central family in that group will find out who the girls are. She was interested in them both. Make sure those two are in a place where they will never be alone while in Vale."

Jaune nodded as he watched the video. The silver eyed girl's body blurred in red rose petals before she appeared behind Miltia to blindly hit the woman in the back of the neck. "I'll relay the information to the concerned parties. The little one has a good pair of legs on her." Half a beat later he added, "to move that fast."

Junior laughed. "I won't tell your girl. You mentioned your job upstairs. How is it going?"

"Not much I can actually say, it's only been two days." Jaune looked from under his hood. "Do the families know about my status...?" Jaune was curious how many people knew he had emergency powers. Junior knew because one of the heads was Junior's man. It was too bad Juane could not figure out who.

Junior shook his head. "If they knew, they would never have challenged you. I'll keep it that way for as long as possible. I will have to give if they inquire but just a little. If the families know how bad it is, they will either take it as open shopping spree before they leave, or just cut their losses and jump ship."

Jaune grunted at the observation before he offered, "My coffers are running dry Junior. I may stick around, but I will probably not contribute much for the next month or so."

"I appreciate the honesty. The information I get are just little things. But people wonder why I pay so much for it. That's a little narrow minded if you don't mind me saying so. With it all, I like to think I see the whole picture like you do. If you need any information, ask. I've staked my life on this place. If anything dire shows, I want you to know about it. Just expect a hefty bill when it's all over."

Jaune laughed as he stood up and gathered the blonde's cuffs. "I plan on sticking around for a while too. I'll do my best to keep up the trust."

-o-

Jaune walked out of Junior relatively early that night. He looked back to the club from under his hood. _I see the whole picture?_ Jaune wished he had Junior's confidence. There were too many things he did not see or even know.

Jaune burst into sprint to run to Beacon. He would take the long way around the lake. He needed the air. But more importantly he needed to see if he could bypass the wait it took for a bullhead pilot to come from their quarters to the landing pad, warm up the bull head, then take off. All the time he spent waiting for the poor pilot, Jaune almost convinced himself it would have been faster to run.

Jaune ran through the city in what was really the first time. All of the other times in the city he walked as a civilian. He was not quite used to the feel of concrete against his feet and the lack of 'give' the ground had as he made jumps and landings. He was approaching the wall and opened his scroll. It emitted a pulsing green and blue light.

That prevented the border guard from opening fire. Jaune slowed down in four steps. His legs still felt like they should slide against the pavement when he came to a stop. The guards allowed him to pass with no questions.

Jaune still felt impressed when he was allowed to go outside. The wall that surrounded Vale was easily thirty feet tall and twenty feet thick. The outside of the wall had massive protrusions like spokes of a gear. Troops and droids could stand on the spokes and create kill zones if a grim invasion happened against the wall.

The patrolman grunted as he hit the sand bank. The ever present moon lit Jaune's path towards Beacon like a glowing road. His feet sunk slightly as his shoes made contact with the damp sand. He immediately felt himself slow for a moment before he forced a little more power into his legs to keep the pace.

As late as it was, Jaune knew his night was not over yet. He glanced at his scroll and noticed that Ozpin's scroll was still running.

 _Still in the office?_ Jaune clicked into his scroll. He received an immediate response.

 _Come on up when you are able. The girls are settled in as guests for the night._

Jaune closed his scroll and picked up the pace. The patrolman grimaced at the strain of his pace set in the sand. The beach was the clearest running path to the hills leading to Beacon Academy. But did the beach ever pull the deepest part of his leg muscles when he ran.

Jaune pulled into Beacon and looked at the time. His breathing was a little harder than he expected for the run. He frowned at the forty minutes it took to get to Beacon from Junior's. His ultimate goal was to make it into town faster than waiting for a bullhead and pilot to take him to the city.

Jaune resisted the urge to sigh at the ten minutes he would need to shave when he walked into Ozpin's office. The patrolman smelled the fresh pot of coffee on Ozpin's desk. "Do you ever sleep?"

"Six hours a night. Any more and I'm lethargic all day. Good evening Jaune."

Jaune rolled his shoulder as he neck popped. "Good morning Headmaster. Here is the recording and the girl's weapons." A pair of yellow bracelets sat on the desk. Ozpin opened the scroll and reviewed the video.

"In case you were curious, I postponed what to do with them until the morning. I will speak to the two of them after I review what you have. Tai has been informed and he will be coming up."

Jaune rubbed his eyes. "They were asking about Qrow. The blonde girl lost it when Junior said he was probably dead." Jaune looked at his boss and shook his head. "I barely recognized the little one as Qrow's student. It was the only tip off that I knew who they were. Not too many people with silver eyes."

"You know the tale?" Ozpin smiled.

"I sang the ballad a few times. It's a long one too. I think I'm not the only one that noticed though. There was a woman from the families. She was pale and in her late twenties. Flat black hair with brown eyes and looked to control a group of men. She had some kind of advisor, likely a upper family member who kept her in check. She acted spoiled but at least knew when to reign in her fun. Junior warned me she had too much of an interest in the girls. They shouldn't be alone while in Vale."

Ozpin set the recording down. "I'll keep that in mind. Tell me of the outcome of the discussion."

Jaune described the conversation for as short as it was. "Hei has stated the girls are not welcome there."

"And three of the seven families will know everything about you." Ozpin's face was neutral. It didn't fill Jaune with any confidence that he made the right decision.

"I was expecting it anyway. It didn't feel like a sacrifice. I was actually expecting more of a demand but then they started to threaten the girls."

"Hei is particular about his rules. I doubt they got off lightly for threatening the girls right in front of him."

"What will become of the two girls?"

"That is entirely on Tai. He is well within his rights to pull Yang out and take her home. He could teach her if he was so inclined. But in terms of her stay in Beacon, nothing will happen other than she knows what Junior's is. It was before the start of the school year. Had you not picked her up, she would have had detention for a month. Do go easy on her tomorrow."

Jaune gave his boss an annoyed look. "I can't promise anything. I'll review it all and decide what to do when I see her."

Ozpin nodded. "Very well. I am not sure what this would mean for either of their careers as huntsmen. The best would be if they did not stay in Vale after graduating."

Jaune scratched his head and felt a little guilty about bringing Hei into it. While banning the girls from Junior's sounded like a minor inconvenience. Most huntsmen jobs are found through his information network. When either of the two girls graduate, they would have to either rely on teammates to speak to Junior for jobs or leave Vale in hopes of a long term position. It is rare for huntsmen to have problems finding a job. But with Junior closed off to the two girls, they would need to find a permanent job right away.

Ozpin closed his consoles. He seemed ready to end his night as well. As he stood he mentioned, "Most students don't realize what Junior's role is until they are half way into their first year. I am more surprised she even knew what it was in the first place, but then Qrow is her uncle."

Jaune gave a huff. "I figured as much. I am concerned for the sister. She will not be apart of a team and while Patch is relatively isolated…"

"With a family interested in her, I will speak to Tai. Considering how well she fought with no weapon she is at least skilled enough to attempt Beacon. Get her on a team that can look after her."

"Do you think she will be prepared to do that? Isn't she still a signal student?"

"We'll see. Tai volunteered to bring her transcript as well."

"Privilege of a teacher I suppose." Jaune murmured to himself. Schools are closed for the summer. "Let me know either way. If the blonde is going to be a problem at school I will probably be running into her anyway."

-o-

Jaune slugged his bag over his back and down the road facing northwest, away from Vale. The morning fog had only began to clear with the sun breaking past the mountain line. It wasn't Fall yet so thankfully the mornings have not gotten shorter. Jaune would need all the daylight he could muster.

Jaune relaxed as the road straightened. He was quick to pick up speed. The woods pass him by with only a lonely caravan on the road as it hurried to get to Vale before it got too late into the day. Eventually he slowed down to breath in the mountain air. Jaune checked his phone until he was able to find the weakest connection.

Jaune got off the road and looked for a tall tree with the thickest base. He patted the tree before he climbed up it. The trees this far away from civilization had not been touched for hundreds of years. Only the rare grim that had enough interest to scratch the trunk would ever bother it. Seventy feet in the branches, Jaune looked around and was happy to see most trees did not extend this far up. He pulled off his bag and pulled out a small white box. It was plastic with a small hatch and antenne. Jaune pulled out a small mallet and started to nail the plastic box to the tree before he opened it up and activated the transceiver. He grabbed his scroll and was happy to see the strong signal.

Jaune made his way down the tree and started the work to make an extended network. He had requested for the CCT to give him five extenders. It was odd for them to bend over backwards to meet his request so fast. It was barely four in the morning when he got the call. His heart nearly leapt in his chest thinking that the trains had broken through. He had not expected the transceivers so soon but did remember he asked them to call him as soon as the batteries were charged and they were all assembled. Jaune gratefully thanked the team when he picked them up.

Jaune read the recent thefts in the last year. Most were innocuous, but there was a pattern of behavior of targeting specific things, most items had little value compared to what was in the same location. Blake confirmed a few of the robberies as targets the White Fang had collected. It was enough materials to run a small base. Extended food, water filtering equipment and self defense drones and weaponry as well as emergency building kits used by Atlas in avalanche relief efforts in the mountain ranges. The organization would not need those thing unless it wanted to camp out somewhere near a target. Some of those stolen goods like the building kits were a little more permanent than the name implies.

Whoever had directed the thefts wanted exact items. Similar pieces of equipment were passed by on some of those heists. Which was why Jaune was out here on the north west range. If the compromised robots were targeting the east side, it would stand to reason that the White Fang, had they made a base, would have done it on the side of the target completely out of the way. No one would want a stampede of grim running through their own base.

Jaune knew it was too dangerous to go alone. Without a partner he would have to make compromises. Coco was right to say it was a half truth he would be with the third years. He would be looking for signs of movement and activity, but the Beacon students would mostly be thinning out the eastern front. He had to take the other three sides. That meant with no back up, he needed to make sure he could relay information in case something happened to him in the field. Jaune looked at the third box solemnly. He did not like to think what could happen to him if he had to use his scroll to call for help out here. He closed the box as soon as he confirmed it worked and moved on. He had cast a large net across fifty miles of forest.

The red Forever Fall forest was easier to travel than he had hoped. The trees were so large, it did not allow for very much underbrush to grow. The grim were sparse as well. He had passes several failed settlements. Those seemed to be the most grim concentrations in the region. Jaune looked around the forest and was reluctant to turn back with how far he had come. He looked over to the mountain range that started twenty miles ahead. It was the natural border of the north, but it actually curved wide east then south. Vale had stopped expanding thanks to the limited materials. But the goal was eventually to expand Vale to the ends of the ranges. But that would still be hundreds of years away.

Jaune was satisfied with the connection and sent Coco a quick message he was heading back and would drop by to say a quick hello in person before he went back to his office. The return blip was quick. Jaune smiled. It was a good indicator all of the access points were functioning properly. Jaune closed his scroll and started to make his run back. There was another reason why he needed a network. The region was largely unexplored territory. The topography was well and good for a good few miles out of the city and along the railways, but it had always been too dangerous or expensive to try and actually map out the region. Most maps just show the forest without really seeing what laid inside. Jaune had already started to lay the coordinates of failed settlements and ravines he had crossed in his run. The ravine was a point he wanted to return to.

Half way back and past two nodes he had set up, Jaune opened his scroll and waited for the CCT to answer.

"Vale CCT. How may I direct your call?"

"Jaune Arc to speak to Director Palem."

The receptionist asked for a moment. Eventually Mr. Palem, a sallow skinned man answered. "Good even Mr. Arc. How can I help you?"

"I sent a test communication using Beacon Three. Can you verify we got the ping?" The network extenders really had two purposes for Jaune. They allowed him to relay information instantly, but the more important one were the pings. The nodes are in the middle of nowhere. So no equipment should be using the nodes.

Even if a scroll was in local access mode the CCT would still get a ping.

"Ping confirmed forty minutes ago from Beacon three. Strong signal connected and sent a message shortly after. Was that what you tested?"

"Fantastic. Yes. Still no way to determine where near the beacon it was sent?"

"Sorry Jaune. We have no way to triangulate that without more beacons making a cross section."

"This is enough. If we can narrow down the places where they are not, it makes my work go faster."

"Just a reminder those batteries last for a week and a half before they need to be replaced. They can send out a find signal in case we lose them for a month. But anything longer, we lose a few hundred thousand for them all."

"I'll keep that in mind Director."

"Please do. I have several more requested to be transferred from three settlements to help beef up the net but that will take a few more days. Good day Patrolman." Jaune closed his scroll and started to increase his pace once he hit the main road to Vale. With a net cast over the non-critical side of Vale's borders Jaune could finally focus on what was going on in the city.

-o-

Jaune kept his face neutral as he walked up to Ozpin's office for what would technically be the second time that day. Jaune the run that morning made him nearly yawn. He knew he would need to go to sleep soon. A nap at least. All he had left was to deal with the two girls that were in Ozpin's office with their father before he could take a nap. It was better to get things like this resolved quickly. Jaune was almost tempted to ask if they had been waiting on him to get back into Vale. Ozpin said Tai had been due to arrive at Beacon in the morning.

The elevator door dinged open and Jaune spotted Tai. With a wave he greeted the other man. "How have you been Tai?"

"It's been a busy few weeks. I do want to apologize for my girls."

Jaune shook his head as he glanced at the girls. They were seated in leather chairs in front of Ozpin's desk. Both sisters seemed surprised their father knew him. Jaune repressed a smile as they took turns to look over their shoulders at him with a curious and nervous look. "It was their decision that led them there. Not yours. But I think that was why I'm here, right?" Jaune watched as the two girls snapped their heads forward to face the headmaster.

Jaune had been mulling over what to do with these two. He rounded on the seated girls until he stood in front of them. While the two girls were not arrested persay, they had been detained by a patrolman. And that constitutes a review and possibly a sentence. In a small settlement like The Houses, that could be resolved with a night in a cell. But the two girls did something far more serious and jeopardized the truce within the town without knowing it. Even if it was to a civilian and the way the blonde reacted to the bad news… the escalation _had_ to be addressed less she actually hurts someone who could not protect themselves. Jaune stared at them for nearly two minutes. They both looked calmer than they did last night. Hopefully that meant they would take the sentence easier. "Your names for the record please."

"Yang Xiao Long."

"Ruby Rose."

Jaune huffed through his nose. "Do you know why you are here?"

Ruby squeaked, "We wrecked a club."

Jaune sighed and looked at the older teen. Yang blushed and looked down. "And started a fight with the crime syndicate."

Jaune looked to Tai and then to Ozpin. Tai actually looked nervous. Jaune gave him a slight shake of the head then looked back to the girls. "I assume the Headmaster and your father explained what situation you found your selves in last night?"

"Yes sir." Yang answered obediently.

"Yeah." Ruby answered as she shuffled nervously in her chair.

"You had a question for Junior last night Miss Xiao Long. Did you receive a satisfactory answer this morning?"

Yang glanced at her father before she looked down. "Yes sir." Jaune watched her fists curl in her lap.

Jaune looked over to Tai. "What did you say to them that got them going to Junior's of all places?"

Tai rubbed his neck and scowled. "Qrow was on an extended mission. I guess when they saw all of the things I had to returned to deceased loved ones, they were concerned. Qrow had plans with Ruby for the summer. He never misses them. I'm pretty sure they eavesdropped on a few calls I made to some of the huntsmen's families. They wouldn't believe me when I said Qrow was on another mission."

"What's different now?"

Tai laughed at himself. "Not a damn thing. They still don't believe me."

"Really?" Jaune asked, not surprised at the answer. Yang and Ruby looked betrayed when Jaune looked back to the pair. "Since I've been taking responsibility for a lot of things lately, one more won't matter." Jaune squatted in front of the sister's seats. "I am the one who ordered Qrow's mission. He will be gone for an undisclosed length of time. He's safe and the mission isn't that high of a risk so long as no one looks for him. He is just needed somewhere. Can you girls leave it at that?"

Jaune looked the girls in the eyes. Ruby immediately lowered her head but nodded. Jaune looked over to Yang. She seemed to have a harder time accepting the explanation but she nodded and leaned back in her chair in defeat.

"Good. What have you decided Tai?" Jaune asked as he stood up and backed away.

Tai groaned in annoyance at his daughters. "As much as it pains me to admit. They will be safer in Beacon. I accepted Ruby's nomination to be admitted."

Jaune nodded. "I thought as much. Since that is out of the way, I detained both of you girls for a disturbance on private property. Such an infraction usually comes with a steep fine and nothing else."

Both girls looked up curiously hopeful.

"But since I don't want either of you to think going to Beacon is some kind of reward. You will both have a misdemeanor charged to your file and are on thirty day probation starting today. You are not allowed to leave Beacon Academy. Doing so will violate your probation and you will be arrested and incarcerated for at least two weeks on top of the remainder of your thirty days. Is that understood?"

Both girls nodded. They both looked relieved. Jaune looked to the blonde. "That takes care of the shared charges." Jaune focused on the blonde girl. She looked up at him. A determined frown graced her face as she prepared herself for the consequences of last nights fight. "Yang Xiao Long, you have a single charge of assault on a private citizen of Vale. How do you plead?"

The blonde shook as she looked to her father. Tai walked up to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Her voice barely carried, "Guilty."

"Very well. Due to the extenuating circumstances of your situation and based on the punishment already issued by Hei Xiong, I have decided on your sentence. It is my concern that your first reaction to negative news was violence. You did not know if Junior had aura or not and that blow could have seriously maimed an auraless person. He has body guards for a reason, but that does not absolve you of your actions. You are about to be trained to be an even more effective fighter. A huntsman protects Vale and it's people. It's not to be used for your own personal satisfaction. As it stand right now, I have no guarantee that you will not keep this violent trend while you are trained at Beacon."

Yang nodded and nearly sniffed. Her sister took her hand. Jaune's voice continued, "You will live two days with no aura. Perhaps thinking and feeling the difference between you and those who are not aura users will give you some much needed wisdom when you decide to raise a fist again."

Yang kept her head low. "Yes sir."

Jaune stared at the bowed mass of hair. "Arrive tomorrow morning at six a.m. in the medical wing. Doctor Tangie will oversee the proceedings when I break your aura. Tai, did you want to stay for that?"

Tai nodded. "I'll stay for the first one." Tai knelt and hugged his eldest as she cried.

Jaune stared blankly at the family as they huddled together. When Tai looked up, Jaune did his best to give him a sympathetic look. The man seemed to understand. The girl continued to cry and Jaune felt he needed to get out of the room. He bade the headmaster a good day and left. In the elevator Jaune leaned against the wall and banged his head slightly against the elevator wall. The punishment was light. Jaune knew that. But her reaction to the sentence jarred him. He was not prepared to see her break down and sob.

Jaune shook his head and rolled his shoulder. Hopefully that meant she would mature from this. Jaune glanced at the time on his scroll. It was still daylight in Atlas. Jaune made a pained faced to the ceiling. _No time for a nap._ He kind of wanted to cry now too. The patrolman made his way to the CCT. He had a long distance call to make.

-o-

Jaune followed the man in uniform down the corridor to his private thanked the CCT staff as he sat down. The private room was furnished with a single console and comfortable chair and desk. At the corner Jaune noticed there was a more utilitarian desk for a secretary. _Ah, it's a board meeting room_. Jaune thought. The mayor had one back in Anvil too.

Jaune awkwardly ran his fingers across the keyboard and typed in his identification number. Jaune decided he needed to get that on the list of things he needed to learn quickly. He never really needed to type quickly, but in the actual city there were more than enough places that expected reports to be written on a console rather than paper form.

"Atlas Department of Military Education. How may I direct your call?"

Jaune placed his scroll on the identification pad. "Patrolman Jaune Arc of Vale to request a call to First Lieutenant Schnee of Atlas Academy."

"Please stand by as I direct your call."

Jaune picked up his scroll and looked at the notes he had to type in. Maybe he should just write everything on a console rather than his notepads… It was a whole extra step he had not realized he made for himself until he decided he needed to take the notes out of the office.

"First Lieutenant Schnee, how may I help you Patrolman?"

Jaune nearly grimaced at the cool reception. "Thank you for seeing me First Lieutenant. I wanted to give my report to you in person regarding the White Fang activity I have found in my investigation. And I maybe provide you some answers for some missing information you may have in Atlas."

The woman's gaze softened and stood a little straighter. "I thank you for that Patrolman. What did you find?"

Jaune explained what he learned related to Adam Taurus and the pattern of thefts in Vale. Winter seemed to have typed as fast as she spoke. She did not falter at all when Jaune felt he was motor mouthing all of the information.

The First Lieutenant stopped her typing abruptly and looked up. "I will forward the last known thefts in Atlas to you. Some of us," Winter's dry tone made the disdain thick in her voice, "Believed that the White Fang had just simply stopped claiming theft attacks. I have thought otherwise. General Ironwood chose me specifically because of my skepticism. Thank you again for the information Patrolman Arc."

"Before we end the communication, may I ask some questions First Lieutenant Schnee?"

She turned to fully face the screen. "Of course, what would you like to know?"

Jaune opened his scroll and looked at the list of questions. Immediately he knew several would be answered in the forward report. Instead he asked, "How quickly did you personally realize that the White Fang were no longer in Atlas?"

The woman blinked for a moment and looked down to something, likely her scroll. "They had a pattern of a theft within three weeks. They would choose up to three thefts and then an actual attack with the support or reaction from those thefts. They stopped all activity after breaking this cycle. Their final claimed assault was a theft of Schnee dust. But the report said the theft was an odd one."

Jaune rubbed his temple. "What was odd about it?"

Winter looked at something else. "Just a moment please. It was before my time in this position." Winter scrolled through pages. Jaune started to feel uncomfortable just staring at the woman while she looked at her scroll and decided to just look at his blank scroll just so he was not just staring at her.

"Found it. The investigation had no follow up. But they had stolen one battery core. We did not even detect the theft until a motion sensor was tripped as they left. We only knew it was the White Fang based on the video recording. They never claimed responsibility and did not take anything else. Had they made a clean getaway the report would have chalked up the theft to corporate espionage."

"What was the battery core for?"

"Common model of a servant droid we use here in Atlas. None military grade. The cores themselves are close to the end of their life cycle but the patents are considered proprietary."

"I am not familiar with Atlas companies at all, is the manufacture the same one used for Atlas Military droids?"

Winter understood what he was really asking. "I will find what I can and get back to you. I will personally update the engineers before they take off this friday."

"Thank you First Lieutenant." Jaune sighed rubbed his eyes with thumb and index. He really needed to sleep. "One final question as both a representative of the Atlas military and as someone who has a vestated company interests in Vale."

The woman looked put off by the second association but nodded.

"If Vale falls. What would be Atlas' next steps?"

The woman seemed to have difficulty findings words. "Surely you are not expecting to fail?"

Jaune shook his head. "I will find the White Fang, Miss Schnee. I don't doubt that. But I am not omnipresent. Just because I found them does not mean I would stop them in time. I need to know how the White Fang would react. How they expect Atlas to react. Now, what would Atlas do if Vale falls?"

The woman did her best not to babble as she came to terms with the fatalist statement. She paused to exhale and refocused. "Atlas would have an obligation to apply relief efforts. There are still companies that have representation in Vale. They may offer aid or support in Vale before they officially pull out their people. As the level of damage and casualty worsens in Vale the Council of Generals would decide if they would bring the army in force to aid Vale or a token front to help the displaced people. Relief would come slow. If the damage in Vale is catastrophic we would forgo aid and simply recall all of Atlas."

Jaune thought about it. "What would happen in Atlas?"

Miss Schnee sighed. "I am ashamed to admit there are a few vocal minorities that would use this as proof and try and force the Faunus out of Atlas. The General's may declare a State of Emergency if the White Fang return to Atlas after destroying Vale. Patrolman you have to understand one thing about Atlas Military. As the supreme authority, the military can and will decided to make swift steps to rein control. If Atlas declares a war on the White Fang they will sweep the country and expel every faunus. The best case scenario would be concentration camps to sort who is a White Fang sympathizer."

Jaune gave her an annoyed look.

The woman shrugged. "I did not say it was smart. However it has been part of our military doctrine for years."

"And the White Fang would already know this."

The Scnee nodded. "The war that may follow would certainly bring Menagerie into the fight. I will bring these concerns to General Ironwood if I may patrolman?"

"Please do. Thank you for your time First Lieutenant."

"My pleasure Patrolman. Good luck. If you fail, know that we will wipe the White Fang from the world to prevent another war." The woman saluted with patriotic fervor and closed the connection.

Jaune watched as the screen went blank as it lost power. He lifted and glanced at his scroll before he tossed it back on the desk. "That's what worries me." Jaune rubbed his eyes and stood up. He pocketed his scroll and left the CCT.

On paper, the White Fang look to be on a suicide mission that guarantees that the organization itself would collapse. The worst case scenario sounds bleak but so many things have to be aligned to it to go in that direction. The White Fang would need to make sure Vale was completely destroyed or they would be fighting a two front war with no place to fall back to. They could not fall back to Menagerie.

It was such a high risk for not even a guaranteed reward. The faunus could easily see the White Fang attacks and reject them instead of support them. He was not sure what would happen in Atlas, but he doubted that the people who performed peaceful protests in Atlas to this day would see any actions by the White Fang as positive outcomes.

"I need to think about this later." Jaune muttered to himself as the Bullhead dipped to a landing on the Beacon landing pad.

-o-

Jaune was not sure what woke him up from his nap on the couch. He knew he needed the sleep and his body had trouble reacting to the weight that leaned on him with its own sigh of contentment.

With enough effort Jaune moved his arm and realized why it was so numb. Coco had apparently let herself in and fell asleep with him. Jaune let his cheek rest on the top of her head and kissed her hair. He just closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling. Jaune allowed himself to doze again. Some time later Coco finally stirred and woke him. He looked down to watch her blink around drowsily. He smiled and kissed her temple. "Good evening beautiful."

Coco smiled and leaned into him again. "Didn't think I would see you again if I didn't stick around."

Jaune kissed her head and pulled his numb arm to pull her closer. "I am sorry."

Coco mmm'ed against him. "It's fine. Don't think I'll be able to pull away from classes or study session for the first week. Tomorrow's my last day of work before the weekend."

"Sorry I can't take advantage of that. If it makes you feel better, you will still be in bed when I have to get up to carry out a sentence tomorrow morning."

Coco winced. "Sorry to hear that."

Jaune smiled as he got up. Jaune turned back to the couch and took Coco's hands to pull her up. He grinned. "We never did finish that dance did we?"

Coco grinned as the two danced to the silence of the room.

-o-

Yang walked down the corridor and looked around the halls under sleepless eyes. The night in the room with her sister and dad had been rough.

Back in Signal, Yang had tried her best help a friend get over a guy who dumped her. At the time, Bella had been inconsolable. Yang liked to think she was mature enough to try and ride over those kinds of anxieties and just accept things as they were. That did not stop Yang as she did her best to help Bella. But Yang internally rolled her eyes when Bella would have a moment where she recalled him out of nowhere. During those times there was really nothing that anyone could do but wait for her to cry it out. It was just a simple fact that Bella had a hard time moving on. Maybe ignorance was bliss. It wasn't over a guy but Yang cried last night. Just like Bella, Yang had been inconsolable.

Yang nearly sniffed again. In her mind, she knew it was stupid to cry about this. Dad had told her she was getting off light. But the image of the patrolman hovering over her. There was a level of caution and distrust when he explained why she was getting her aura broken. The sound of how uncertain Yang would react to the same situation made the feeling of bile rise in her throat.

Yang felt Ruby tug her hand in reassurance. She put on a brave smile for her sister. Ruby seemed to have come of out this a little shaken too. Yang was not sure if it was because she was pushed quickly into Beacon at a young age, or the fact Ruby told her she did not feel like she deserved or even belonged in the school. Ruby was placed into Beacon to protect her. If anything happened to her sister… Yang shook at the thought.

The hospital wing was a simple office with a hall that looked to have led to examination rooms. She was escorted to one where the Patrolman waited. A doctor stood next to him with tray. Yang noticed that what she thought would be an examination room, included a bed and private bath.

Yang resisted the urge to gasp when Ruby curled her fingers into hers. Yang placed her free hand over her heart to calm it. _Focus girl._ Yang reprimanded herself. The door closed behind them. She was not sure what she expected when the patrolman greeted her dad.

"Morning Tai. This will be quick. Doctor Tangie, you're better at explaining this than I am." The patrolman gestured for Yang to stand in the center of the room.

"Good morning Miss XiaoLong. Mr. Arc will attempt to overload your aura to the point that it breaks. This will leave you exhausted for a few minutes but otherwise unharmed."

The older woman looked at Ruby for a second before her chipper voice continued, "Your aura will try to recover and regenerate over the next few days. Tomorrows break should be a lot easier for you as well. There would not be enough time for your aura to have fully regenerated. If you feel ill, please come directly to me. There should be no side effects but what the patrolman is about to do may potentially cause internal bruising. Also be mindful of the amount of force you use to interact with everyday objects. It's not uncommon for someone to bruise their hands as they reach for a door handle as their aura is not there to absorb the impact of your natural strength. Again if you experience any problems please come see me."

The doctor instructed Yang to place her hand on a console next to the unused bed. "Flood your aura. This will measure it. We will need accurate measurements if we want it broken on the first try."

The patrolman waited for Yang Xiao Long to nod when Doctor Tangie announced that the meter was calibrated. When she looked to be ready Patrolman Arc confessed, "As a full disclosure, this is the first time I am breaking aura in this way."

Yang watched as a green bar moved to full. "Why is it the first time?" She asked nervously.

The patrolman nearly smiled as replied, "I've never broken someone's aura while they stood still to take it."

Yang mulled over that while she took off her jacket and tied back her hair. Afraid of the answer Yang eventually asked, "What happens if it doesn't break on the first try?"

The patrolman gave her an apologetic look. "I will try again until it does. But every time I do, your body will feel every blow I will use to break your aura. After three times and if I fail, I will let you rest and try again the next day."

Yang nodded and exhaled before she looked over to her sister who had started to hug their father in support. "I'm ready."

The patrolman walked in front of her. Yang found her eyes locked to the metal caped knuckles sewn into his gloves. His warm voice commanded her, "On my signal I want you to flush your aura and inhale."

Yang anxiously nodded.

The patrolman passed a look to the doctor. When he got his signal, "Three, Two, One…"

The first thing Yang felt was the sudden need to inhale and exhale at the same time. Her heart felt like it was about to burst at the first five taps against her stomach abdomen and sides in the span of a second. Her aura rippled across her body as it tried to meet the damage it took. A stray thought from a class in her first year in Signal came to her mind as another hit bit into her belly then her sternum.

A human's aura liked to keep an equilibrium across the whole body. It was why huntsmen need to train so hard. A huntsman needs to exert influence on their own aura to strengthen specific parts of the body to gain greater than super human strength for their line of work. When a part of the body runs low on aura, the body flushes that section of the body with aura to make it match the rest.

On the eighth blow, Yang began to feel a cold numbness to her fingers. It took her brain a half a moment to realize she should breathe before that was interrupted by another seven hits. Her body shook and Yang was forced to nearly bend over before a blow to the center of her forehead knocked her head back. Yang could not find the word to describe what her body did. But 'pop', felt close enough followed by an immense coldness to her skin. The patrolman had caught her under the armpit with the doctor taking the other arm.

Yang had trouble focusing for what seemed like an eternity. The voices of her dad and the doctor passed over her. Phantom lights seemed to dance in front of her eyes as the world seemed smaller. She could no longer feel the presence of her sister and dad. She looked over and saw them begin to walk to her as her eyes closed shut. Her body felt like it weighed a ton and hard to move.

Yang felt dazed as she felt the absence of her aura for the first time since she was six.

 _Ah. This is what it means to have no aura._

-o-

Hours later Jaune spent the afternoon in his office with his notes strewn across the table. He stared at his notes that laid on the table and shuffled them around when he had a new idea. He always liked this method since Koben showed it to him.

Jaune took a few steps back and imagined what Adam Taurus could do with this information. What could the White Fang do to make their goal succeed? One reason Neo was able to get away was because the Anvil Patrolmen were never afforded the luxury to try and understand the ins and outs of what goals they wanted.

"I want Atlas to see me as a threat…" Jaune looked at the notes that had the goals Miss Belladonna had informed him. "Attack Atlas' profit margin. Lower enmity of faunus within Atlas by being absent. Make Atlas treat the White Fang seriously." Jaune paused there and glanced at his notes. Adam had plans for Atlas if the country could see the White Fang as a credible threat. "I guess executions were not serious enough."

"Attack the trains sure, but why am I attacking Vale? What do I gain?"

Jaune pulled up a note from Winter Schnee. She had passed along the targets of the last five heists known to have been made by White Fang. They were nearly a year old. "The White Fang had been out of the public eye for nearly a year now." Jaune stared at the list and realized why the first lieutenant was able to get the information so quickly. They were attacks targeted against her family and company. Jaune nodded to himself as he thought about that. He took out his pen and wrote a note of last known targets and set them down next to old plans.

"So what I had before didn't work. I still want to complete the old goals but I need to set a more achievable goal. The emerald forest. If we bring down the borders between Vale and Beacon..." Beacon itself acted as the natural border to the north east along with the cliffs and waterfalls that lined them. But the rest of the eastern border was flat lands the further south you looked. That was where the eastern front started. From the edge of the lake to twenty miles south were the mountain range veers east.

Jaune spotted the note sheet for the _mystery man_ who visited Adam and gave him the round of sudden successes. "Mystery man helped me get into power. It was only then that the White Fang pulled out of Atlas. Was that my idea or the mystery guy's?"

Jaune sighed as he moved some of the notes around on the table. They sat haphazardly cobbled together in a messy venn diagram. "But none of this still explains why attack and destroy Vale? Adam could easily have had so many other plans that would not have killed so many people. Just the number of faunus that live in Vale would guarantee that the faunus would turn on the White Fang too. Why attack the country that had actively listened to the faunus issues in the past. What would the White Fang gain from it?"

Jaune went through another pot of coffee and only stopped when he felt the caffeine give him a headache. It was nearly three in the afternoon when he washed his cup and stared at the note. "Why destroy Vale. I gain nothing. I hurt the White Fang. So why do I do it?"

Jaune frowned as every answer to that question sounded like things _he_ the patrolman would say. It destabilized Vale, blame could be passed onto Beacon if it comes from the east, it would shrink the population, Vale would have to be dependant on another country. Jaune blinked. "Or organization." Jaune wrote that on a note. "The survival equipment that was stolen would be usable for recovery efforts. Especially the field hospitals that are made to fill abandoned buildings. If you are painting yourself in a positive light…"

While Jaune liked the idea, he shook his head. "How does this make Atlas see me as a threat? It comes down to what Adam wants. Let's say I want to go through with this plan to destabilize Vale. Would I even tell anyone?"

Jaune crossed his arms for a moment before he walked over to his desk and tapped his scroll. He connected it to the Beacon PA system. "BLAKE BELLADONNA PLEASE REPORT TO PATROLMAN ARC'S OFFICE."

Jaune sighed and scratched his head. He made himself a very late lunch while he waited for Miss Belladonna to arrive. He was mid way through preparing a sandwich when the door to his office opened. Jaune spotted the black bow before he saw the girl's head poke inside the door. Jaune almost laughed at the way it moved when he called. "Come in Miss Belladonna. I am just making myself some food. Would you like something to drink?"

The girl shook her head as she quickly moved to sit down on the chair in front of his desk and waited. Jaune moved his plate to the desk and opened a bottle of water. "Sorry about the call Miss Belladonna, but I had a quick question."

Jaune smiled as she stared at his sandwich. It was a simple tuna and mayo. "Would you like a sandwich?"

She blushed and nodded her head emphatically. She ducted her head to hide her face. "Sorry sir."

Jaune could not hold back the laugh. He set the plate down and turned back to the kitchenette. "I have extra Miss Belladonna. Just a moment. While I make it, I wanted to ask, 'Did Adam let everyone know what the plan was?' I am not sure how to proceed in my investigation without what the organization thought of the plan."

Blake frowned. "I was in a unique position with Adam as his partner." Jaune watched as the girl shivered slightly. She rubbed her arms before she said aloud, "I was his best friend. But after this last year he had pulled away from everyone. I had thought he did it because a lot of people were upset that we were leaving Atlas. A few considered challenging his spot for leadership after it happened, but there are still a few dust miners in our group that fought tooth and nail to keep in him power. But after his last challenge that ended with Adam killing him, Adam said he would not accept any more challenges until after the job in Vale was over."

Jaune let the girl think back to that time. She seemed lost in unpleasant memories. Eventually she looked at him and he could hear how her voice quivered. "I only learned he had planned to break the protection border in Vale by accident. Illia's team didn't feel comfortable speaking to Adam ever since his last challenge and reported that they had gained the travel plans for the next train shipments. I had just finished looking at Atlas's military troop transfers away from Vale the week before and found that one train had the dates coincide."

Jaune passed her the sandwich. She ate and it calmed her slightly. The sandwich was done in moments much to Jaune's amusement. Blake looked reluctant to continue and sighed forlornly at the empty plate. Eventually she looked to the ceiling.

"I was so excited when I saw the chance and pointed it out to Adam. I had hoped that we could use this as a chance to attack Atlas's production. Like he said. Attack their bottom line."

Jaune pulled out a notepad. "He reacted differently?"

Blake teared slightly. "I've seen Adam fly into a rage before. Usually it was when one of us had died. But never like the way he told me that those droids must go through. He never hit me before, but he nearly hit me when I asked why. It was the first time I was scared of him. Really afraid of what he was doing."

"Did you piece it together yourself?"

"Only after I spoke to a few others. It was normal enough for me to help Adam with his missions for years. No one batted an eye as I started to ask how their missions went. Actually, now that I think about it, quite a few of them seemed relieved. They seemed to think that Adam was coming around with me now checking on them. It was a lot like the old days…"

"Do you think the deserters weren't so much anyone that was unhappy with the White Fang, but those who realized what they were doing?"

Blake energy sapped from her at the question. "Probably. Everyone was happy that we had a goal to work to. If there were questions, they were squashed until after the missions in Vale ended."

Jaune wrote down a note as he said it aloud. "He seems to want to really put off everything until after his plans for Vale. When the White Fang find out what they had done, what do you think will happen?"

Blake looked at her hands uncomfortably in her lap. "I am not sure. A few would definitely agree with the attack. A small group was able to topple a country. But the rest? While Menagerie is a little backwater and isolated from the rest of the world, I can't imagine any of them would want to endanger their home for this. They would try to leave."

Jaune remained silent at that thought. The White Fang could implode on itself. "I've been tossing an idea around in my head Blake."

Blake looked up surprised. It seemed it was the first time he called her by first name. "Sir?"

"Is Adam really doing this for the White Fang?"

The question struck a chord with her and she shook her head at the same time she put her hands to her mouth. "What? No-" Blake stopped and looked horrified at herself for a moment. Suddenly Jaune passed her a tissue from his desk. She placed it across her eyes and used the moments to regain control. Jaune let her take as much time as she wanted. Blake muttered to herself, "How… I can't believe I still feel this way after he tried to kill me."

"You really felt like you needed to defend him." Jaune offered in sympathy along with another tissue. Blake took a moment to dab her eyes.

"It's stupid."

"It's normal. The feelings of what he did to you are still raw Blake. And I am sorry to bring those up now. But I needed answers and a perspective. Do you think Adam is doing this for the White Fang." Jaune watched as her brows and bow twitched.

Blakes eyes watered and shook her head. "I don't think so." She gasped as she admitted that. Her voice cracked when she admitted, "I don't think he has been working for the White Fang for a long time. He never would have accepted pulling out of Mantle. He was somehow convinced that what we are doing now is more important than trying to prove that we exist in Atlas."

Jaune set his notes down. "Do you think that if the White Fang saw something happening in the city to support faunus rights it would make them voice their concerns on targeting Vale?"

"The timing may be too convenient. A lot of us were cynical when we joined."

Jaune looked at his notes and saw Winter's questions. "How about if I can get a public event with an interview with a Schnee that supports Faunus rights?" Jaune wondered if that was even possible. The First-Lieutenant did seem to dislike her association with her family business, but that did not mean she would support the faunus.

Jaune watched as Blake did an interesting combination of perking up and wilting at the news. "That would be amazing but in Vale?"

"It is just an idea at this point. But if I could make it happen, do you think that would be enough to raise descent in the White Fang about targeting Vale. Keep in mind they do not know what we know."

"It might be enough. But I am not sure. You would need to have someone from the Faunus to be there to help validate it."

"I'll look into finding a representative from one of the Atlas protest groups."

Blake frowned, "I don't think anyone will volunteer Mr. Arc."

Jaune was about to ask why when he remembered what is actually happening in Atlas. "It would have to be a third party then. Someone from Menagerie or some one who is willing to risk their safety of retaliation from the White Fang and Atlas pressure."

Jaune started to write a note and penned it with a list of things to ask Miss Schnee again the next morning.

Jaune noticed her hand move nervously in the air. "Miss Belladonna?"

Blake waved her hand slightly before she let it sink back into her lap. "I could do it. If it is just an interview with a Schnee… I just need to ask questions and she gives answers to help ease the tensions right? Most people will not know I was White Fang, but they will. Just introduce me as the daughter of the last peaceful White Fang leader. I think I can do that."

Jaune watched as her shoulders shivered. "Are you sure. You will announce to them where you are. I can not fully guarantee your safety if they know where you are and what you are doing. Not to mention all it would take is one of them to announce to the media you were current White Fang to destroy the good will."

"I can say that on my own before we start with the interview. If this is going to help. I want to do it."

"Even with the bow on?"

Blake blinked and touched her bow. She had forgotten about it with the excitement of talking to an SDC representative. "I would have to take this off."

Jaune watched her struggle with the idea to expose herself again. He quickly decided she was not ready. "I won't make you do this Blake. This is your choice. Take your time to consider it. I will ask on my end to see if this is even possible and what we can even agree to ask."

Blake breathed suddenly happy they moved on. She stood up at the dismissal. "What would you do if I don't do this?"

Jaune looked up from his notes and smiled. "Same thing I always do. Solve my problems as quickly as possible. I will find a way Miss Belladonna. Please don't consider your decision the lynchpin to my success."

Blake looked disappointed when he went back to her last name. But she nodded and sighed.

Jaune kept his relaxed smile until she closed the door. He let the smile fall and glanced at the stacks of papers on his desk. Even if Miss Belladonna decided to not go through with it, Jaune could try and still ask for representatives to submit questions anonymously. Unfortunately this would leave the interview event as a big public target.

Jaune looked at his notes that were strewn about his desk and pulled out his pen to write on a new sheet of paper. Jaune held the new note in his hand before he placed it in the center below Adam Taurus' notes.

He stared at the new sheet until he realized the day had turned to dusk. Jaune pulled the notes together with the new sheet on top before he grabbed the folder to seal them all together. Jaune hated to admit it but he needed help. He could not solve this case alone. But in the same breathe he had to admit he was not confident he could trust anyone with this information. Blake's safety relied on it. And even Winter and Ozpin only knew the basics of the situation. The council has been blissfully unaware of his new findings. And it would stay that way less Junior's man finds out what he has collected and that's released into the information market.

Jaune needed someone who could keep up with him if a fight breaks out for whatever event he planned. He needs the back up when he explores the forest incase he is caught alone either by grim or by the White Fang. Jaune needed a safety net for himself. Someone who could take over if he gets injured...

Jaune huffed in annoyance as he admitted to himself; or dies.

This was too important to not have someone in the know to take over.

Jaune eyes narrowed at the thought. He glanced at the newest sheet before he closed the folder.

 _Find another patrolman._

A/N: A week later than I planned to post but I kept picking at it. The ending is actually a little different from what it was two hours before I posted it. Same result just a little different way of going about it. The biggest challenge was having everything the White Fang were doing make sense. Jaune and I were kinda both taking that adventure together when I wrote this one.

Two things real fast:

One is the name of this story was chosen when I had really only intended to write a story for Jaune and Coco. I am not sure if I will change the name of the story to keep it inline with where it is going now, or just leave it as is. Just a heads up for people who follow the title instead of title and author as it could change your bookmarks/profile favs.

Two is really things I am leaving as side stories on the cutting room floor. The don't really fit into the main plot of any of the arcs. Would people be interested in slice of life stuff as a side spin off? They would be really short scenes/self contained stories. I could always do them as intermissions for the main story, but these chapters are long enough as is... cough.

Next chapter is being pushed off to late May since I will be vacationing in Hawaii for a few weeks in late April.


	8. Chapter 8 Adjust

Jaune stared at the map and wished he at least had a coffee on hand. Miss Xiao Long had taken the second day's break easier than the first, but she was still extremely weak. Jaune was in the middle of explaining why he would always start aura breaking with a kidney blow when he had received the morning call. Now that he was in Roselink's nearly sterile clean office, he felt like he had to change the days plans.

"How long have those rails been closed?"

"Sixty-some years. But the fact remains that the barricades have not been reinforced much less checked in the last twenty. I need a group of huntsmen to investigate the barriers. I almost forgot these even existed. They are not shown on any maps since the massacre." Roselink answered. His face was furrowed as he tried to remember the last checks.

Jaune pinched the bridge of his nose and looked up to the men surrounding him. "I'll get a group of ten huntsmen. How many tunnels are we looking at?"

"Just the one. They all funneled down to this one. They were made for two way transport of goods to and from Mountain Glenn. They were never meant to connect to anything but the central hub."

"Which sits buried under downtown. Lovely." Jaune pulled up his scroll. He did not want to waste any time. It was still early. Early enough Jaune was not sure if Midori would answer.

" _Yeah Jaune?"_

The patrolman sighed in relief. "I got a job if you know a few teams. It's to be done immediately. Just a survey, but the location has been abandoned."

Midori raised an eyebrow that went into his teal hair. " _Where's that?"_

Jaune just grimaced. The group formed quickly. It helped that Jaune had a few teams volunteer to stay in the city at all times. A few thanked the patrolman for the small vacation, blissfully unaware of why he asked for them to stay in the city. Others had assumed It was because of the new exercises he was running the thirds years through. A few who thought themselves in the know had winked at him and hinted they would be happy to raid one of the families when he was ready.

The patrolman was flattered they thought he could pull that off so quickly.

"Moji how's the ceiling looking up ahead?"

The brown haired man gave Midori the thumbs up. "Strong. They made these tunnels to last, that's for sure."

"You can complement the architects later."

Jaune ignored what else Midori said in favor of looking further down the tunnel. It looked like the team up ahead were able to restore power to the over head lamps. Jaune did not imagine he would spend his weekend underneath the city. He did not actually know there _was_ an underground to the city until this morning. Jaune watched as Midori gave orders to the huntsmen. Jaune had asked for two of Roselink's men to inspect the tunnels and rails for tampering. They seemed comfortable enough in the tunnels while they pointed out things the huntsmen would have missed.

The patrolman inhaled deeply as the burst of fresh air hit him. He looked back and thanked Roselink for the foresight. Behind the groups, a small rail cart with a large slow revolving fan. It was pulled by a car with wheels retrofitted to run on the rails. The fan was to help speed up the air flow in the tunnel. Roselink was not sure if the air would be breathable after being sealed for so long.

"We're clear up to the junction." Called a huntsman who ran back to inform Midori of the progress.

"Thank you Ciel. We'll push the cart further but hold your position at the junction. No sign of anything?"

"Nothing. Not even tracks. The filth here is thick enough further up ahead. No air currents either. Honestly this is the easiest scouting job I've had in months."

Jaune laughed. "Don't jinx us please. Midori, I am going back to inspect the seal. Lake, Rye, you two follow Midori's orders. I want to see how stable this tunnel is after all these years."

The two inspectors agreed and continued to walk further ahead. Jaune looked up at the ceiling lamps. He was amazed they still worked after no maintenance. Just as he said that, one of them blinked out a ways down the tunnel. "I should stop jinxing myself."

The base seal to the old terminal under the city was strong with thick walls of concrete and stones rolled into place. It was designed to keep grim from walking into the city. If there was one thing he didn't like… Jaune looked up and realized he must have been under the southern district. "This tunnel goes right under the residential district. If the tunnel collapsed I wonder what the top would look like. Would it just be a sinkhole or would it still stand up given how deep into the earth the tunnel is."

Jaune already knew he wanted several new seal points for the tunnel. Vale has grown exponentially since the collapse of Mountain Glenn. He started to head back out to meet the huntsmen. He needed a map.

If Jaune had walked a mile in the tunnel, it felt like tens of miles. With the tube of concrete straight and unchanging, it was hard to judge how far they had traveled. Thankfully the huntsmen had been keeping track. They were now three miles beyond the city walls and well away from any roads that may sit above them.

"You sure about this Jaune?"

Jaune looked at the map and the 'X' that laid in several areas after the initial junction. "Do you think we'll ever use it again?" Jaune asked amused.

Rye shook his head. "It's more of the fact we are about to destroy Vale property." He answered while he nervously looked at the giant scars cut into the stone and metal supports made by the Huntsmen. The tunnel supports continued to creak at the lost of strength in their beams.

"Roselink already had an idea we were going to make new seal points. He just didn't have a demolition team. I'll be taking responsibility. I want these tunnels closed off and we have little time before I need to move on. Vale needs to have more than one point of failure for this tunnel. Masks on! Midori when you're ready." Jaune said around his own muffled mask and goggles.

The huntsman lowered his hand and eight Huntsmen with sniper rounds fired down the tunnel. The light of the rounds disappeared into the dark before the walls lit with hot molten metal. Several rows of supports slid down the walls and the first _CHINK_ was the only warning they received before a gust of gravel filled air hit the group. Jaune and the two inspectors lowered their heads against the rail cart for protection as gravel pelted the car and cart behind it.

The dust took longer to settle than Jaune liked. He constantly wiped his goggles until there was a shout for the all clear. Jaune looked over the collapsed tunnel. The section they broke off was nearly twelve feet deep of tunnel. When he looked up, he noticed that there was no opening to the sky above. "Just like a sink hole it seems. Good job. Let's make the next one and get out of here."

The teams made their retreat back down the tunnel to make the next collapse point.

"I hope the rest of the day goes as easy." Jaune pulled up his mask as Midori made another warning call they were about to fire the next round.

-o-

Jaune would admit to First Lieutenant Schnee that he knew very little of how the Schnee Dust Company works. He did not know how true the allegations of abuse were inside the SDC. Jaune only knew that the President had not directly addressed the accusations. The screen came on and the same receptionist from yesterday answered. "Atlas Department of Military Education. How may I direct your call?"

"Patrolman Jaune Arc to speak to First Lieutenant Winter Schnee on a secure line."

The man paused and the screen flashed before it went blank. A few minutes later, the first lieutenant answered. "Good morning Patrolman. What can I do for you?"

Jaune felt relieved at the warmer reception than the last call. "I spoke with my witness yesterday and have come to a few conclusions and possibly a way to destabilize the White Fang. But I need more information first."

"Regarding the White Fang?"

Jaune shook his head. "About faunus in Atlas. The strongest faction in the White Fang are survivors of the mining incident from the Schnee Dust Mines. But they are not the majority of the White Fang. Many would need a very good reason to leave Atlas. It is likely not all of the White Fang are aware of the overall plan in Vale." Jaune had her attention and explained the behavior of the White Fang leading up to the witness' defection. The White Fang was a compartmentalized organization where the parts would rarely see the bigger picture until it was over.

"The White Fang has had internal arguments when they changed their focus to non-Atlas targets. I plan to focus on that. But I need your help."

"You wish to know how the employees in the SDC are treated?" There was an annoyed tone that made Jaune wary.

"Among other things. I don't just assume you know how the business was run because your father is the president First Lieutenant. But I am asking you because you are the only one that I can ask."

The Schnee's furrowed brow did a dance as she took a moment to decide what to do. Eventually she exhaled. "I am not the best person to consult Mr. Arc. My grandfather was the first of the few companies that started to hirer faunus during the relief and recovery efforts after the war. But that has put a strain on the family ever since. My family have been estranged from parent to every child. But I can say that mining is a dangerous job and equipment for the mines has been replaced regularly every six months for the last few years. I am aware there is a phasing program where the most dangerous jobs have been passed to droids. All employees and their families are checked regularly by a doctor for any birth of aura. Any family member with someone that has aura is released. No questions asked. Aura near the mines is suicidal. But it is also true we are the largest employer of the faunus people in Atlas. And the faunus people are reluctant to come forward and lose their job if they unlock their aura. Accidents happen."

Jaune wrote this all down. From around his pen that he resisted to put in his mouth, "Please excuse me Miss Schnee, but I have heard rumors that the SDC have exploited the faunus."

The woman scowled. "Try the whole country Mr. Arc. Slavery was abolished less than seventy years ago. That kind of imprint doesn't magically disappear. But this is as far as my knowledge of my father's' company extends, I have never stepped foot into a mine or a business office of the SDC. I can make an educated guess that **if** there had been an active roll to help the discriminated, and I am being charitable here, that could easily be circumvented by a few racists hired into leadership positions on the mining sites."

Winter Schnee sighed. "I'll be frank Mr. Arc. Atlas lost the faunus war, but that does not mean we were really affected by it with how isolated we are. The outlying settlements are more kind to faunus, but we still have heavy segregation within the city. This is a societal issue not just an issue within the SDC. The White Fang forget this. But there have been plenty of peaceful groups in Atlas that have not. They have been a very vocal group this past year with the absence of the White Fang. A few even named themselves in public without the fear of assassinations."

Jaune looked up from his notes.

"Yes Mr. Arc, it has been that bad."

Jaune nodded and looked down at his notes. The heading of each note seemed to tease him.

 **WHITE FANG**

 **ATLAS**

 **SCHNEE DUST COMPANY**

 **WF GOALS**

Jaune pulled up the new note list under them all.

 **CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS**

Jaune listened to Miss Schnee as she went on, "The largest activist group call themselves Blue Peace. They are a new group, but they have had the most progress with legislation within the country. There have been several attempts to quiet the protest groups, but they have been making headway with focusing on educating students rather than adults. It's progress, but all it takes is for one person who is angry enough to interrupt the protests to push back their small victories."

Jaune wrote another note for everything the First Lieutenant said. He added it to the list right below Civil Rights Activists. He held his finger on the sheet for a moment as he tried to put himself in the activists' shoes. Without looking up to the first lieutenant, "It would still be dangerous for them, wouldn't it? Coming to another country to voice their problems then going back to Atlas."

Winter Schnee paused but simply nodded and added, "It would. When they return, they will be targets for both political agendas and the violent groups that may want to lynch them."

Jaune pushed the new note to the top and pushed the Activist notes to the side. He had already given up on the idea along with any plan to ask Miss Schnee for help in Vale. It was time to start forming a new one. He glanced at his notes again.

 **1st lieutenant Schnee**

 **Atlas**

 **Schnee dust company**

 **WF GOALS**

Eventually he discarded **Atlas** and **Schnee dust company**.

Jaune's finger played with the notes for **WF GOALS** and dragged it to the top. "We don't need a civil rights event… Miss Schnee, when is that engineering ship leaving for Vale?"

Winter Schnee looked at the clock. "In seven hours."

Jaune tried to hammer out the idea while he stared at:

 **WF GOALS**

 **1st lieutenant Schnee**

"Would you specifically be willing to come to Vale? I have an idea that may work."

Winter Schnee folded her hands in front of her. "I am listening Patrolman."

Jaune pulled most of his notes together and placed them in the folder except for Winter's. "Vale needs to start a positive conversation about faunus rights. Something that will get the White Fang's attention. Their goal will test our resolve to stay together. It's only fair we test theirs. Currently there is a sect within the White Fang not fully on board with focusing on Vale. I want to make those dissenters voices louder."

Jaune pulled up his schedule and ran his finger down the list on the calendar. Roselink will be ending his second week by the time the engineers arrived. "People have already noticed that we changed how the trains are allowed to come into Vale. We have Roselink in a new position to cover for that safety procedure. But people in Vale will start to be concerned if they find that there were a bunch of Atlas engineers that have arrived in Vale to look over the new droids. I can create a small press ceremony for the 'new' droids and I can prompt a few questions to ask about the faunus because you are from the Schnee family." Winter lowered her eyes at him in warning but did not say anything further.

Jaune quickly moved on, "It would give a legitimate reason for the engineers to be present in the city and give us the opportunity to start that conversation. Something simple and innocuous in a larger ceremony celebrating Vale and Atlas' continued support of each other."

Miss Schnee gave a thoughtful look, "And it could help styme the protests we usually get when Amity arrives." Winter caught Jaune's confused look. She explained helpfully, "Atlas tends to get protesters for every Vytal festival. Go look at the last one in Vale. There was a peaceful sit in for the use of Schnee Dust just after an incident regarding dust mining work conditions came to light."

"I'll have to look into that then, I missed it when I went through the last few Vytal Festivals. Ozpin had expressed," Jaune gave a wry smile, "his willingness to have me run security."

Winter gave him a sympathetic smile before she frowned when she looked at the clock. She answered cautiously, "I could do it. Provided I get approval from General Ironwood. It will reflect poorly on Atlas itself regardless of what I say. But the questions are coming from a reporter. That's something I have very little control over." She gave Jaune a steady look and Jaune nodded. This whole exchange would need to stay between the two of them.

After a moment of thought Winter said with a more firm voice, "I will do it. You are correct that we need a legitimate reason for the arrival of the engineers, and a short ceremony would do the trick. I have a sister arriving in Beacon the same week. It would be a nice surprise to speak with her before she starts school."

"Thank you. I will send a message to a few people to get the ceremony up and running by the end of next week. Plenty of time for the engineers to arrive and publicize the event."

Winter looked at him for a moment. "Do you think there will be any problems?"

"As long as it is not publicized too early, we should have no problems. I'll keep you updated if things change."

That seemed to be enough for Winter. "I may not get those notices if I'm over the ocean. I will give you my answer if I received approval within the hour."

The screen closed with a blip.

Jaune sighed and rubbed his strained eyes. "I guess it's time to see how much influence the Voice of Vale really means."

Later in his office, Jaune closed his binder and ended the call. Twenty three minutes, it was how long it took to request everything to be pulled together from organizers to the choice of venue. The Voice was more of a Koben term rather than a Patrolman term. It was what he called it when he was given emergency powers in his old settlement before he moved to Anvil. People didn't just reluctantly follow his instructions like Jaune expected. They jumped to answer Jaune when he asked. "I guess that's the difference between a settlement and a city."

It was far and away a completely different reaction than what he felt in Anvil all those years ago. With no clear and present danger, Jaune had expected some hemming and hawing or some kind of fight to get non-Vale agencies to follow his requests.

Not so. Three owners of the local news organizations understood what it meant when the Patrolman gave them an order. _And did they take it as an order_. Jaune thought to himself as he stood up and shook the stiffness out of his legs. The three way call got them bouncing information off each other. Jaune wondered how often they had to coordinate together even as competitors.

Jaune looked back to the actual duties he needed to do on campus. He was fairly sure he still needed to meet with Ozpin about the freshmen exam field.

-o-

Yang learned that it was not just how hard the patrolman hit her. It wasn't even the speed. It was the combination of the two that made her aura work against her. Yang's aura had been full this morning. Yang was worried it would be more painful than yesterdays' because of it. But Mr Arc explained there was a difference between full aura and strong aura. Her aura shattered at his touch.

When Yang got back to the room she shared with her sister, she felt Ruby's eyes follow her. Yang didn't care at the moment. She just wanted to get back to her bed and nap the weakness off. Breaking her aura for her punishment made her so tired. Or it could have been the fact that Mr. Arc insisted they break her arua at six in the morning. That meant she had to wake up at five to get ready.

Yang woke up several hours later well before noon. She looked around lazily, "Morning sis."

Ruby looked up from her magazine. "You're awake! How are you feeling?"

Yang gripped her hand and felt the lack of strength in her palm. She felt vulnerable all day yesterday because of it. Ember Celica had been heavy in her hands yesterday morning too. She always knew they weighed some thirty pounds, but she never knew what thirty pounds actually felt like. Her muscle and aura had mitigated the weight completely when she used them. She honestly could not remember a time before yesterday where they felt like anything other than a bracelet that sat on her wrist. .

Yang ran her fingers over her returned gauntlets Ember Celica. The weight made them feel foreign to her. When she said as much to the patrolman that morning. He laughed and told her that his girl friends weapon was over two hundred pounds and was the size of a purse. He couldn't even lift it.

She set down her weapon of choice. The Patrolman knew what he was talking about. Everything felt different without aura. The world was different. She could touch things while she had aura, but she never appreciated the weight things carried when she handled them. She had no idea how hard she touched something until she felt the first signs of bruising on her forearm when she caught the door with her arm because her hands were full of bags. She hadn't felt pain like this before. Simple things like aches that lingered for _hours_. It was a foreign thing for her to understand. Her aura would normally clear aches within moments. She had fallen out of a second floor window before when she was young. Her aura made her hit the ground with a thud but a tearful rub of her head and a scolding from her mom to suck it up made her never question how serious of an injury that could have been for someone else.

Yang leaned forward onto the kitchen table and moaned. She spied Ruby over on the couch with a comic book. Yang was pretty sure her sister had re-read that same comic five times since yesterday. Yang's only comfort was that her dad did say he would bring some of her things tonight. Yang grumbled as she stood up. "Ruby I'm going outside for some air. This place is driving me crazy."

Ruby just carelessly waved her hand.

Yang sighed, put off by her sisters behavior. Yang knew Ruby was handling her new lot the best she could. Ruby always dreamed to start her huntsman training early. Ruby seemed to have a problem with how she got in. Ruby knew her early enrollment was handed to her. Not earned.

Yang watched her sister huff and turn the page. Ruby had a slight frown and zoned out while she looked at the same corner of the page as the minutes passed by. Yang decided to let her sister think on it more. They both needed something to distract them both.

-o-

Junior was as good as his word. Granted it was the mercenary group he mentioned before, but he informed Jaune of the new group entering Vale. Jaune accepted the invitation to the social gracefully and donned his hood and jersey.

Jaune took his time to fully equipped his gear for the night. The small case at the side of his hip tugged on the band that held it against his waist. When Jaune had looked at himself in the mirror before he left he was surprised how much he carried with him. The hip pouch for cuffs, and hand ties, his modified shoes were better off labeled as boots now with the added weight from the steel toes and heels. The forearm guards were worn underneath the long sleeves of the hoodie. They had several uses, but the biggest one was protection from dust projectile fire. Koben had sounded so trusting of them when he said they had saved his life. Jaune sighed at the narrow bands of metal. He would have to be very fast and optimistic to think those would save his face from a shot to the head.

Jaune felt the extra weight of his gear when he took his seat. Only a few of the families had seen him and he wanted to make sure they had the right impression with just the jersey and hood. Jaune looked around to the floor below him. Sundays were reserved for special events at Juniors'. Jaune had ignored the few annoyed students that were turned away at the door. Only a few of them realized who it was under the hood and blue jersey when he entered the club.

Jaune noted many of the families sat on the bottom floor. When Jaune moved to the second floor, he was surprised that he had the whole place to himself. Melanie sat at the bar a few tables down. Apparently he was the only one she would be serving tonight. Usually none from the families would deign to go to the lowest floor, but it seemed that the prospect of a new mercenary group in town was enough of a draw for them to come down and judge the group for themselves.

Thanks' to Tai's daughters', there had been some movement of alliances lately. The Cin family had been ousted from their contract when they violated Junior's rules. The group had been down on their luck for the last three years due to an arms deal that fell through. Junior confirmed it was thanks to the investigation that started in Anvil. Jaune decided to keep that feather in his smug cap for helping with that one. This year was their last chance for the Cin family to deliver their tithe. They were not out right killed, but most of the family was being absorbed by other groups. It was never outwardly stated, but the fact that Jaune was able to get the Cin's family name proved that the family were falling out of favor.

If Qrow was not able to get actual names on the other companies that ran the place in the last ten years, Jaune felt he had little hope to get them unless they were spoonfed to him.

A crowd shuffled around the entrance. The man with the red hair and the bowler hat was new. Judging by how Miltia was waiting for the man's arrival, Junior knew him. _Was this the new contractor?_ Jaune wondered.

Melanie walked up to the edge to join him. She took a seat and sighed. "It will be easier running the place now that there are a few mercenaries keeping the families in line."

"I have been reluctant to ask, what happened to the last mercenary group?"

Melanie scowled. "The Cin family happened."

Jaune passed her a card loaded with cash. "A drink for the both of us." Melanie winked at him and tucked it into a hidden pocket in the strap of her dress.

She looked back down as the group mingled with the families. "You didn't hear this from us, neutral and all that, but the Cin had an operation that went south. The mercenaries protected the family head on that trip. They were all killed in an attempt to get the head out of Nomad Bay. _The Monopoly_ did not like that Cin was undercutting them and had prepared a trap to kill the Cin family head as an example."

Jaune had heard of The Monopoly only because Gordon had a story from Nomad Bay when he first started his life as a huntsman. Gordon also said he was pretty sure his daughter Linda was born there.

"So the Monopoly killed them?"

Melanie nodded. "The Blau Mercenaries were all wiped out along with most of the Cin family. The current head is actually the second cousin of the original head. The poor kid has no idea what he is doing either. The Torchwick Mercenaries will help bring some much needed equilibrium to the power vacuum. Like the Blau Mercenaries, they will never fight against their own. So the most they will ever do for the families is protection."

Jaune could make out the details of the man's entourage, or lack thereof. Usually people of his supposed wealth would have a massive escort. The lone cane and the one guard were all that stood at his side as his only protection. _That is very little protection.._. Jaune smiled at the unintended pun. She WAS small, petite and dangerous. "Thank you for telling me." Jaune murmured absently.

Melanie looked at the group with a sigh. She quietly excused herself as she made her way down stairs to help her sister with the guests.

Jaune barely noticed. His eyes were locked on the mercenaries. His narrowed his eyes. It was _her._

The mercenary Neo looked around curiously at the club. Her hair was that unmistakable brown and pink. She walked in with a swagger that made him forget how small she was. Her grin was more predatory rather than gleeful when she saw something she liked below the patrolman.

Jaune slowly looked away from her.

"Well ain't this a little problem." _And a little disappointing_. Jaune thought to himself. If Neo was apart of the mercenaries, there was little chance he would ever be able to arrest her. Jaune was told the mercenaries seemed to be a must for the city to function.

Jaune mulled over the problem as the two along with the larger families followed the group to the elevator and presumably the fourth floor to speak.

-o-

Junior had trouble not staring at the girl. Hei kept an eye out for all of Arc's targets. Not only were they profitable, but they also seemed to be in something bigger than they led on. Junior smiled at Torchwick. "Accommodations have been made for you Mr. Torchwick. Was there anything else?" He asked. The meeting had concluded as soon as the families had departed. It was now just Junior's group and Torchwick's.

Torchwick smiled as he took out his cigar from its case. He kept it in his mouth but refrained from lighting it in the room. "That is all then Hei. Thank you very much."

Junior smiled. "You may have a few families inquiring about your services sooner than you think. Our patrolman suggested you last week."

"Really? That is kind of him. I'll be sure to thank him when I see him. If you need anything feel free to call us."

"That is usually my line Roman." The two man shared a greedy smile. "We look forward to doing business with you."

Junior watched the group go. "Before you go," Roman stopped and turned half way. His stance expected some kind of attack judging by his hand as it rested on his cane. Junior ignored the threat display. "If I may ask a question to the Miss?"

Roman looked amused and gestured to the girl. The girl smiled wanly.

"Do you go by the name Neo?"

Roman raised his cane with a hollow pop of its barrel. Junior put up his hands and signalled his men to do the same. "I just have a message." He offered.

Neo patted Romans' cane until it moved away from its leveled position facing Junior's head. She simply gestured for the man to continue.

"A Patrolman said he was still looking for you."

Neo suddenly grinned. At Roman's confused look, she winked at him and fanned herself. Neo looked back to Junior and mouthed out the word, ' _Where?'_

Junior laughed. "It will cost you."

-o-

Jaune sighed in boredom. He could do that at least. No one was around except for Melanie. He watched one family after another leave the elevator for forty minutes. He was ready to leave if they did not come out soon. He wanted to approach the mercenaries himself once the families were gone. It always helps to introduce yourself

to your local frenemy. And the mercenaries would likely help as much as be a hindrance with his work.

Jaune spotted her as soon as she walked out of the elevator. His eyes followed her until she glanced around. Eventually she found him by his hooded head and vest resting on the balcony across from her.

Neo's smiling eyes matched her grin.

Jaune pinched his finger to his thumb and spread them apart before he tapped two fingers to his wrist and then the same two fingers to his eye and away. She tapped the redhead man's elbow and gestured she was stepping away before her body flickered from her semblance. Jaune barely felt the rush of air as she stood next to his table.

Jaune remembered the last meeting better than he thought he really should have. As odd as it sounded to him. He had never been afraid of her. Helpless? Most definitely, but never afraid. Neo always looked too happy to see him to think that.

Neo loomed over him with some kind of pent up energy that shook her. She still had that same fond smile. "Join me?" Jaune gestured to the chair across the table. She promptly took a seat next to him and grabbed the drink menu. Melanie had started to come over as soon as she saw the petite woman join him. Neo greedily pointed at a drink. Melanie frowned at the girl but took the order.

"I'll pay for it Ms. Malachite." Jaune offered. That seemed to perk the woman up. Apparently the new contractor didn't pay for their drinks at all this visit.

Neo's smug smile made Jaune nearly give a very Coco like huff. Neo crossed her hands once and put her wrists out and forward, then slashed her hand across her face with a smile. Now Jaune huffed in annoyance. Neo never did get that bounty he wanted to post. There was just too little evidence for a foreign girl who could change what she looked like.

"I didn't. So far, I got nothing on you." The woman grin turned nearly shit eating levels of smug. "It doesn't mean I'm giving up on it. Might have to now though. I'm actually a little miffed at that."

Neo gave a silent giggle. When the drink arrived she took a long sip with a silent delighted sigh. Once she was satisfied she simply drew a question mark with her finger in the air.

Jaune wondered how to convey what he wanted to say to the silent girl. There were still no one on his floor aside from Melanie. But there were other floors where people could still see them talk. His hand made a quick line across his chest where his vest rested then crossed his wrists. He quickly brought his hand to his mouth and raised to fingers before he pointed at Neo then her boss below them. The man seemed amused that Neo was chatting with some stranger.

Neo did not seem bothered by the request and nodded. She stopped herself and gestured to her drink and relaxed in her chair.

Jaune gave her a polite nod and a raise of the glass. One she returned. It was another moment in a series of surreal moments. Neo treated him like a long lost friend as they chatted. As much as Jaune could tease out the meaning of what she said with her hands, he kept replying verbally. She seemed delighted with every exchange.

Neo had been a mercenary for years it seemed. The ships they had stolen were long gone and under the control of a pirate Jaune had never heard of. At the very least Jaune knew for sure she was hired on as muscle rather than part of that gang. Jaune watched the woman that, was at one time, was almost his murderer. A thought did begin to bother him as they continued to chat.

"I did mess up a lot of your plans with that investigation. Did you ever regret not killing me?"

Neo immediately shook her head. She tapped her wrist and moved her thumb over her shoulder. Neo raised her glass and pointed at the ground and simply sank further into her chair. She downed the sweet drink in a long swig and exhaled a satisfied sigh.

Jaune grunted, "I guess a job's a job."

Neo nodded before she looked at her empty drink. Jaune raised his hand to get Melanie's attention at Neo's expecting look.

"I have to ask, were you a patrolman?"

Neo's drink appeared almost as quickly as she ordered it. Melanie gave him a glance that made him realize that she wanted Neo out of here as quickly as possible. Neo seemed willfully oblivious to it all and took the new drink with a sip and smiled at Jaune. After a thoughtful look she answered his question. She taped her throat twice with two fingers and made a thumbs down.

"I guess losing your voice would make the work impossible to do." Jaune thought aloud. Neo gave a reluctant nod before she returned to her drink to sip it slowly.

Juane looked down to the floor below him. The red headed man seemed to be patiently waiting, but they had been talking for a while. "I suppose I should meet your leader. It's why I stuck around."

Neo inhaled sharply with a shocked look and shook her hand before taping her chest.

"You're not that special Neo." was Jaune's sardonic reply.

Neo smiled and disappeared to her boss the drink still firmly in her hand. Jaune stood up and passed another card to Melanie, "Thank you for the drinks Miss Malachite."

"Later Jaune." There was caution in her voice that made him give her a reassuring and grim nod.

Jaune made his way down the stairs to the lower level. While he could jump off the edge and land on the lower floor and not hurt himself. He didn't like the odds of him landing on something or some one.

Hands in his pockets he walked up to an amused Neo and a very patient redhead. "Good evening Mr. Torchwick, my name is Patrolman Arc."

The man smiled as he puffed his cigar. "Good evening Patrolman. I take it you have had a run in with Neo before."

"A few times. I know she had fun running me into the ground."

The man shook his head and looked to his partner, "Neo, Is this was the guy you talked about?" The woman nodded as her eyes flicked in alternating colors. The man raised an eyebrow at the reaction. "Was there any other business you had with me?"

"There is one thing. But I rather we not speak of it here. If you have some time in the next few days, I would like to speak with you in private. You are welcome to choose the location."

Roman frowned but agreed. "I have taken a residential house that serves as our barracks until we have a larger facility. I need to fill out my roster with the Beacon graduates. This last year had run down our staff."

Jaune didn't need to be reminded what that really meant. Roman handed him a physical business card. "Thank you. It is a matter of state security, and I thank you for your willingness to speak with me. I will reach out to you Monday evening."

"Of course." Roman replied as he placed the cigar back in his mouth.

Jaune glanced to Neo. It was almost an honest answer when he said, "It was good talking with you Neo."

Neo smiled and tapped her eye with her finger before she pulled her thumb and index finger close and mouthed out, _Jaune._

Roman laughed. "I see why she likes talking to you."

Jaune shook his head as he walked away from the group.

Melanie actually gave Jaune an idea and it was something he really should not have overlooked. Especially with the First Lieutenant set to arrive in town at the end of the week. He decided to ignore Neo for now and focus on his job.

He would need to amend the security detail.

-o-

The start of the new week came sooner than Jaune wished. He was only briefly able to talk to Coco over the scroll. Her teammates were not happy that he had kept her up late into that evening. Jaune paid them no mind. He felt he had earned it now that his sweep plans were finished. Jaune was satisfied whenever he went over the route he wanted the student huntsmen to sweep through the forest. They would start close to the emerald forest on the Beacon side cliffs and push outward.

Fifteen miles. That's how large Jaune wanted to clear the grim. Fifteen miles east and twenty south as it followed the mountains. The deeper the teams made the sweep the more important it was for the teams to be able to communicate with each other.

Which is why he took extra time to go over his plans with the staff then the students who congregated in the courtyard. He looked over his packet, then to the third years. A few were surprised he was younger than they were, but at least half of the third years knew who he was from lectures last year. That avoided any unnecessary arguments when one or two felt annoyed when he began to lead them.

"Keep your packets with you at all times. It is your rotation schedule. You can't rely on a scroll working in the field. Day one huntsmen have your assignments." That got their attention. Most of the students in the third year were students that had some independent training already. Come the summer before the final year, most huntsmen were encouraged to put their name out there to be taken into senior groups for the all perked up when Jaune barked orders.

"I'll see you at the docks in half an hour, Teams One, Four, and Eight. Four hours to set a pace, and we will have the other teams take that pace or adjust to a slower pace accordingly. This is not a race. This is a thorough sweep for the safety of Vale. Safe hunting Huntsmen."

One team leader smirked at their friend. "I'll do my best to keep it slow for you Chia."

Jaune ignored the by-play between teams and walked off the platform. The students needed a little time to break up into their teams. The sweep would take nearly two weeks to complete and will be maintained with three to four groups every week for the rest of the semester. _Or until I find the White Fang._ Jaune thought to himself.

Hopefully it will be sooner rather than later. "Team Orchid, Navy, Cloud, with me. We have a schedule to keep!" Jaune boarded the bullhead with each team taking their own.

"Good morning Glynda."

Professor Goodwitch sighed as she looked away from her scroll. "Morning Jaune." She kept the voice cordial but Jaune grimaced as she walked ahead of him into the ship.

The bullhead's engines roared to life. It only made the silence between the two staff members more awkward. Glynda held her pad and shook her head. Finally she added, "I am going to be behind if I don't keep working while we are out in the field. The first years will be in next week for the entrance exam and I am still going through the roster to see who will even be accepted to attempt the exam."

Jaune gave her a sympathetic frown as he took a seat and the ship lifted off. It would be a short one with the tree line only a few miles away.

The day moved as slow as Jaune had expected. The students have been on missions for the last two years, but this was a first that several teams were working together. He mentioned as much to Glynda who frowned.

"I will start addressing this. The teams tend to either group up and not communicate or they spread apart and don't know where they are in relation to each other." The initial sweep for grim ran the whole length of the forest going north and south before they set down flags to point how far they had searched. Jaune watched as Glynda ordered the teams to take north, south or east.

Glynda spoke calmly into her scroll. "Don't just look around, sense them. They will come to you the more you use your aura. Decide who will take point to bait them out and go over your area again. After another sweep we'll move further east." There was a round of 'Yes ma'am.'

The professor sighed and closed the communications line and opened the roster list. Jaune stood next to her and scanned the forest line for grim that may flee west. The silence still seemed stifling. Eventually Glynda huffed. "I am annoyed with you at the moment Mr. Arc."

Jaune looked up surprised from his map, his voice only held the bare hint of indignation, "What did I do?"

"You have given me more work. Already I see I will need to address a few things about this years senior class that I did not anticipate. And possibly the other grades as well. I would have thought the mission experience would be enough for the groups to coordinate on their own, but that is not the case."

Jaune allowed himself to calm a little and shook his head. "Sorry for the added work. But better they learn now though right?"

Glynda gave a thoughtful 'hm' in agreement and closed the roster list. "Finally. Done. You are right of course, but you have inadvertently given me more work since you arrived. The roster for example." She tapped her closed scroll. "Your admission for the three girls set a new precedent. One I can not ignore and I had to go through the applicants to see if anyone else would have qualified under these circumstances."

Jaune nearly tilted his head in confusion. "Such as?"

Professor Goodwitch huffed. "Accepted based on combat ability alone, students seeking refuge or asylum, and check to see if any students were turned down based on criminal history. I had to review quite a few applications. Really, you have been making me adjust policy for a while now." The woman looked ahead and scanned the line of the forest for her students. There was a flash of light to the south where Team Navy was fighting some grim.

Jaune resisted the urge to do anything while she spoke and only after a minute or two to think about it muttered out, "I'm sorry. Let me know when it happens again. This is a much different role than working with Vale. I did not think how those decisions would affect Beacon as a whole."

The woman moved her hands behind her back. "You were not expected to. It is a new position and we are all having growing pains at the moment. So I apologize if I had been off putting this morning."

"Thanks for letting me know about the school side of things. I'll bear that in mind in the future."

Glynda gave a smile of approval as she started to walk ahead to meet one of the teams. Team Orchid had finished their sweep.

-o-

Jaune was thoughtful the rest of the day. He only really stopped thinking about what Glynda had said when he returned to his apartment. He was thankful to the professor. He had not thought how Beacon would need to change to accommodate him. It did not help that Ozpin seemed to be willing and encouraging the changes to happen. Hearing how the changes are affecting others was enlightening.

Jaune turned on the news and started to cook something for himself. He was in the middle of chopping an onion when he heard,

 _Indeed, the ceremony will be hosted by councilwoman Coral Soek. But already protesters of Atlas interference in Vale security has risen from the move. Several activist groups pointed out numerous times our dependency on Atlas for our borders._

 _Protesters from the Faunus Immigration Coalition have decided to do a peaceful sit in at the ceremony in protest of the use of SDC dust. As the company's number one importer of energy propellent, Vale has long been criticized for indirectly contributing to the abuse of minorities in Atlas._

 _Coral Soek commented on this afternoons' protests:_ " _ **Vale and Atlas have had a long standing friendship that preceded even the color revolution. We have supported each other for hundreds of years. The Council of Vale have expressed our concerns to Atlas regarding the inequality and the impact it has had on our relations with them."**_

Jaune laughed, "Read: We're pissed that they _moved_ to Vale."

 _Councilwoman Soek's statement was met with criticism from both sides of the bench. The Industrialist Party have brought up the request again to increase exploration of the northern ranges to…._

Jaune frowned at the screen of Coral Soek. "So that's her name." It was the woman who was the spokesman for Vale and the one that assigned him the job to find the White Fang. Jaune watched the news broadcast and changed the channel to find another news station covering much of the same.

Jaune opened his scroll. This was already catching on bigger than he liked, but it was too late to stop it. He just had to make it all work.

"How can I help you Jaune?"

"Ozpin, did you see the news cast this evening?"

"Just a small bit. Your hand?"

"Yes and no. It's taking a life on its own. Can you gather seven, five-man teams for the day of the event?"

"You already have ten patrolling the border at that time, but I will give you the names and numbers of the team leaders that I know are free within the hour."

-o-

Jaune shifted uncomfortably in front of the Torchwick Mercenaries base late that night. The meeting with the Council barely happened at all, but he got pretty much what he needed before he spoke with Roman Torchwick. It took the council an hour to deliberate, but they agreed with his requests. Even with emergency powers there were only so many things you could do without drawing too much attention. And he needed to get permission for what he was going to offer Roman tonight.

Jaune looked at the building. It was a simple city home that was converted to a business office. It sat tall and narrow. The office space was lined between two other such homes that made up most of the city block. He knocked on the front door and waited patiently. A tall man in his mid twenties opened the door in a smart business suit and slicked black hair.

"Jaune Arc to speak to Mr. Torchwick at his earliest convenience."

The convenience part seemed to be agreeable to the older man as he welcomed the teen inside. "You may wait here in the lobby. I will inform Mr. Torchwick that you are available to speak to him." The man seemed used to these kinds of requests and did not bat an eyelash at the idea of a teen who made a request for a meeting with the president of a mercenary company.

Jaune was thankful that the wait was not long. Barely a few minutes. Neo walked out of one of the rooms and cheerfully beckoned him to follow her. Jaune shook his head at the way she moved her hands in a playful come-hither motion that seemed more of a threat than an actual welcome.

Jaune walked into a room where Mr. Torchwick and several men and women hovered around the leader's desk.

Roman looked to have been expecting him as he offered the patrolman a drink. "Just your cola of choice today. Give me a few years and I'll offer you something more substantial."

Jaune accepted the comment with a slight nod, "Thank you for seeing me Mr. Torchwick. I have wanted to speak with you ever since Junior told me you would be coming to town."

Roman smiled and took a seat next to Neo on a sofa. "I've heard you been up to something but Hei has been tight lipped about it. Are you going to be keeping me busy in the coming months?"

Jaune sat on the loveseat across from them. "In one form or another."

"You have my thanks for that." Roman muttered as he rubbed his chin.

"I have an operation coming up at the end of the week that coincides with an event being held downtown." Jaune lied easily, "Atlas is bringing personnel into Vale to announce the improved the automated security droids Vale has purchased."

"And you think Atlas will be targeted somehow in this stunt?" Roman looked at the scroll and noticed the dates and times for the event.

"Yes and no." Jaune frowned. "My personal resources will not be available during the time period and I don't like the coverage the event is already getting. What should have been a small minor event for a news blurb turned into an event that has every news outlet pining for coverage. Security has been taken care of thanks to Vale PD. But I want to eliminate variables."

"Ah!" Roman said now suddenly enlightened. "Which is why you came to see me. You want to make sure the families will not interfere."

"It is my hope your presence next to the Atlas personnel will dissuade the families from getting any ideas."

Roman frowned. He did not need to see Neo's shoulders move to know she was immediately interested. "Where are all the huntsmen in this?"

Jaune stayed silent before he reluctantly answered. "They will have their assignments."

"There is a lot more going on than you're admitting Mr. Arc. I already don't like what I have heard." Roman's eyes narrowed dangerously. He leaned forward. He set his glass down and steepled his hands together. "Do you want to know what people have said since I first came to Vale?"

Jaune could imagine. "They are uneasy."

Roman laughed. "That is the understatement of the century. The families are nervous. Not just the weak ones. ALL of them. They know something is happening. Hundreds of huntsmen have been recalled into the city. The families are getting paranoid. They suspect one of their own sold out the families to you. They say there is a state of emergency in the council. Unconfirmed. But you would know for sure wouldn't you? Patrolman." Romans hard eyes stared down the teen.

Jaune met the stare with equal intensity. "I need your representation there. What is it you want Roman?"

Roman stared at the young man but found nothing he was looking for. The teen looked like a kid but Roman already knew better. A patrolman through and through. Which is why he admitted, "I want to survive. What do we gain for aiding you?"

"Legitimacy in Vale by the Council. No need to pay to keep things under wraps with the police or try and pretend you can pay me off. You get to house your mercenary company out in the open.

Roman leaned back in his chair and smiled. The money he would save would be enough to keep his company profitable from day one. The patrolman really did come to make a deal. Whatever the kid was doing, it was important enough to make sure Roman was on board. Out loud he said, "Not bad for a disgraced patrolman."

Jaune stared at him and then glanced at Neo. She gestured several hands almost too fast for Jaune to see. Roman just smirked.

Jaune focused all his mind into being a patrolman and answered, "You're very good at that."

"Making people angry?" Roman said with a victorious smile. It died a quick death when Jaune corrected him.

"Keeping people distracted. It's a good way to let them unintentionally give up details. But that is my request. I would like to hire your services as a mere presence next to the Atlas security detail as a sign to the families. That is the extent of my job offer."

"How much?" Roman finally asked now curious how much the patrolman was offering.

"Twenty thousand. Given the threat of the families to yourselves, double if you need to interfere due to fighting."

"How many people?"

"Just one. Again, just a presence."

Roman hum'ed to himself. It was not the best offer for the kind of job given. And what was a job without a little risk? Roman just arrived in town. He did not have any ties if he had to pull Neo out of the country in a hurry.

Jaune seemed to like the moment of silence. "Think of all the graduating class that will see your name out there. Ripe for job requests by the end of the year."

Roman laughed. "That is a fair deal sweetener. Make it twenty five and fifty and I'll hand you Neo here."

Jaune did not even look at the older woman. "Done."

Jaune pulled out his scroll and pulled out an empty card to transfer the funds. "Fifteen upfront. Ten and then some after the job is done. Payable by The Council of Vale." Jaune stared at Roman and nodded as the mercenary got the message. This wasn't paid by the treasury, but out council members own pocket.

"Neo, please meet me on Friday at noon at the city square in front of the courthouse. I will introduce you to the security detail then."

Jaune stood up. "Good evening Mr. Torchwick. You too Neo."

Jaune nodded at the man at the door who opened it for him and left as quickly as he arrived.

-o-

Roman remained seated even after the young man left. He glanced at his empty glass before he leaned forward to pour himself another. Neo moved her hands in a quick 'well?' gesture before she tapped her temple and pointed at the door.

"He's as interesting as you said he would be. And a lot more dangerous. Be careful Neo. He did give us a warning. Whatever he is doing is bigger than he is letting on. Wear the armband when you go. We could use the advertisement."

-o-

Jaune eyed the Atlas air ship as First lieutenant Schnee arrived. Bigger than a transport ship but definitely not a combat ready military craft. It made its descent to little fanfare. The flight deck personnel seemed to treat it as a normal air ship. Jaune was thankful, there was already going to be enough pomp and circumstance that friday. Jaune recognized the First Lieutenant as she stepped off the air ship ramp.

"First Lieutenant." Jaune greeted her. A single guard flanked her with bobbed hair half hidden under the cap of the Atlas uniform.

"Patrolman. I heard you prepared a party for us."

Jaune smiled and apologized, "It's more of a circus. I apologize for that. Local coverage is competitive and has blown it out of proportion. Please follow me and I'll abreif you of the situation as it is now. The engineers?"

"The engineers have already flown out to the field, they will be back tonight to settle in."

"Do they have their own security?"

"Yes, thank you for asking Patrolman."

"Alright. A councilwoman by the name of Coral Soek will reach out to you tomorrow morning. Any new developments will come from her. I have assigned a single guard to pair with your security detail from Vale."

"That was not necessary but appreciated."

"You will meet them this friday a few hours before the ceremony. I will be in the crowd observing. The police have already set up a plan for coverage three city blocks deep from the event."

"You've been busy." The soldier commented.

"I simply ask, and the city makes it done. It has actually been alarming how fast it happened." Jaune admitted. "I'll be happy to have this over and not worry about the responsibility. I already know I am going to have a serious review with the council about some of my decisions."

"Anything you crossed the line?" The first lieutenant asked sounding surprised.

"No, but I am young. Some of the council have not seen pass that and will probably nitpick. We'll see what happens after this is all over."

Winter Schnee gave a frank, "I wish you the best with that Jaune."

"Thanks Winter."

-o-

Jaune left his office and walked down the halls as students moved to their next class. The second and third years gave various greetings when they spotted him walking among them. The fifth day of school left most of them frazzled. Jaune couldn't wait for this press conference to end this evening. But he still had a patrol to consider first.

"Mr. Arc!" Jaune turned his head slightly and recognized the team. He stopped and greeted them.

"Team TNSY. Good morning. Are you ready for today?"

Tangi grinned and pointed to her team. "You betcha. Blanche and I have a bet which team can get to the tunnels first."

Jaune grinned. "Good. I'll see you all out in the field today. Follow the protocol. Stay safe."

"Yes sir!" She cried as she pulled her partner Nolan behind her. He gave a pained wave goodbye to the patrolman.

Jaune watched the pair go before he made his way to the hangars. It was the fifth day for the sweep. Everything moved smoothly once the first group cleared the opening mile and a half. It did annoy him how little respect the teams gave the job. But they had not run into anything that could trouble them this close to the city.

Jaune frowned as Glynda reminded him just that morning they would change their tune once they hit the ravine. Jaune knew today would be the first day they attempted to clear it. Several of the larger grim were known to nest in large cool places and the largest network of caves sat in the ravine.

The ship listed slightly and lowered down to a flat section of earth. Jaune stood up and grimaced at the short trip. The flight seemed to go faster the more trips Jaune rode regardless how much farther they flew.

"Team Brick, follow north along the line take a dot formation to check for signs of large grim passing by the clear point then collapse back to the bullhead. Team Tansy you will take south. Team Oro has the four corners of the ravine. You are our communications hub. Professor Goodwitch will scout ahead northeast and I'll take Southeast. A simple check, huntsmen. Then come back immediately."

A round of "Sir!" was their reply before they spread out to their jobs. Jaune watched them all go before he nodded to Team Oro. Glynda was long gone to perform her assignment.

-o-

"Call Mr. Arc." Blanche frowned at the markings on the ground. The imprints did not look like any grim or animal. They looked artificial.

Ivory opened her scroll and ignored the local access warning. Team ORRO would help relay the message.

Blanche looked at her partner. "What do you think?"

Rime followed the imprint of one of the feet. "It's definitely some kind of droid. What was it doing out here?"

They tensed when the voice behind them ordered, "Pull back to the bullheads." The patrolman looked to Blanche. "Your shift is over. You will report this immediately to the Headmaster and pass along the map coordinates."

Rime was already marking it on his map before he folded it and stuffed the paper in his jacket. "Why us?"

"The deputy headmistress and I will remain behind." Patrolman Arc looked at the cave entrance and walked around the group to see the imprint. He barked out, "You are dismissed students."

Team Brick shared a look amongst themselves. "Sir." the group said weakly then left patrolman. Several minutes of near silence passed. A soft click got the attention of the team as Ivory closed her scroll. "The other teams are heading back to the bullheads now-..." The team slowed as they saw their professor run by them. The woman ignored them completely.

Ivory nervously swallowed at the serious look the professor had. Professor Goodwitch was always stern, this was different. "What do you think we found?"

Kobi shrugged and adjusted her hip strap for her weapon. "Probably what they were looking for."

Blanche nearly snarled. "Cut the chatter. Don't say anything else until we talk to the headmaster." That shushed the team moments before they arrived at the bullheads.

-o-

Jaune was kneeling when Glynda landed in a leap behind him. He traced just above the earth where the imprint cut into the hardened earth.

"What did they find Jaune?"

"We'll need to praise them, I would have missed this." He pointed to the flat outline near the edge of the mouth of the cave. It was nothing more than a flat cut of solid stone flattened near the wall. It was tiny barely a millimeter edge, but it was definitely there. As if a droid moved to close to the edge to cut the corner going into the cave.

"I see. The students were already at the bull heads. Our ship will be back in an hour."

"Then let's go inside and poke around."

The ravine's mouth was as it was described in an old guide. Smooth walls from flooding rounded the edges over the years and water trickled down several caves out of the ravine and into a stream that led to the lake near Beacon.

Jaune watched for tracks and imprints while Glynda sensed for Grim. Jaune did not think he would find any more tracks. The constant water runoff would guarantee it. The floor was unsteady. The earth was soaked with water. It wasn't completely made of mud, but a good firm push off the ground would sink his foot. Like a mix between sand and mud.

Eventually Glynda took front point while Jaune pulled out his scroll to light the way. A bright light cast their shadows against the walls as they found the cave open to a larger chamber.

Glynda frowned, "This is a nesting area. But it's completely empty. What could have driven the grim out?"

"Not out. Look."Jaune had cast his light over the floor ahead of them. Several more imprints strewn the driest part of the floor in the center. Several large squares sat in the center along with footprints undisturbed by the water and no wind broke apart the faint markings.

"Someone was herding the grim."

"Into cages it would seem. How did they get them out of here? The entryway we came in was not nearly large enough for those size of crates." Jaune got his answer when he moved deeper into the cave. There were several openings that wound from the mouth of the revine to a section half a mile east.

Glynda walked ahead and scanned the cleared forest. Trees were cut and cleared. Obvious signs of ships littered the place. Who ever was here did not even bother to hide they had been there.

"This equipment looks to have been sitting here for a few weeks." Jaune lifted some debris out of the way with his foot and saw old discarded trash near what would have been an aircraft.

"They didn't expect to be found either." Glynda knelt next to a tree stump that was used as a makeshift desk.

"Who ever it was, they got what they wanted and left."

"Jaune, over here."

Juane set down the garbage and walked over to Glynda. Further down the field Jaune spotted what caught the professor's attention. It was the remains of a collapsed field tents. "First Lieutenant Schnee mentioned military supplies were stolen in the last Atlas theft almost a year ago. It was supplies for a full army. I had wondered if they had enough people to use them all, but I guess they are using them as disposable tents." Jaune lifted up the flap of the tent and saw the logo for the Atlas military. "So it was White Fang afterall. Why are they moving grim?"

Glynda and Jaune shared a glance and started making their way back. The walk was slow to navigate the cave. Jaune was not sure who started to speed up first, but soon both teacher and patrolman ran as fast as Glynda could keep pace. Jaune pulled open his scroll as they made it close to the Bullhead landing. "Bullhead?"

" _This is Bullhead two-two-three. Just awaiting your arrival before I land."_

"We are ready."

The pilot's ship flew around in a single pass before it made its descent. "Glynda I need you to head to the headmaster and have the team's head out to their posts now."

"Jaune if they are moving the grim-"

"I _know_. We need to start looking in three directions rather than the one. I'll leave Ozpin to defend the north." Jaune exhaled the frustration and pulled open his scroll. "I need to speak with the council. Just tell the teams to be vigilant. If the White Fang have been changing their plans, we need to be prepared to react."

-o-

Jaune waited outside the courthouse. It took him a moment but he found Neo standing alone in a stylized brown and white jacket and capris. Her parasol shaded her as she sat drinking some kind of fruit beverage. It couldn't be anything else with that color.

"Hello Neo."

She twirled her parasol in reply before she stood up and put it away. She tilted her head in a gesture to get a move on.

"Not quite yet. I need to speak to Councilwoman Soek. You'll be along for the ride."

Neo grinned and formed a 'v' with her fingers and crossed them to tap her heart.

"Ha. ha. In a way, we are meeting the parents. Behave. She is the spokeswoman for the city."

Neo threw out her drink in the garbage bin when they walked in. Jaune began to recognize people as he walked chambers. "Patrolman Arc and guest to see Councilwoman Soek."

Jaune moved out of the way of the people behind him as he thanked the receptionist. Neo stood next to him.

Neo opened her palm and moved her finger in a straight line before she closed it and opened it again to draw a winding line across her palm.

"Yeah. It will be up to you if you want to keep going after we speak to Soek. But it just means there's a higher chance of you getting your double pay."

That seemed to satisfy her. She opened her scroll and started to send a message. Jaune was almost amused that she treated it as good news.

Jaune nodded to a slim man who opened the door for them to let them in. Another stood next to Councilwoman Soek. "Thank you for seeing me Councilwoman."

"Of course Jaune. I had not expected to see you already."

"I seem to keep finding new things to plan around. My associate here is Neo from the Torchwick Mercenaries. She will be the guard for Winter Schnee during the event."

The councilwoman nodded at the pink and brown haired woman. "Very good. I can take over and guide her to Winter Schnee myself. I am heading out in a moment so we may drive to the press conference together. You said you had news."

"I have found evidence that the White Fang are changing their plans again. But I am not sure what it means for today. I am taking extra precautions but my huntsmen are already in their posts. So it will just be me and Neo outside of any protection you bring to the event."

Coral Soek nodded. "I have my self covered with these two." The councilwoman looked over to Neo. "Prioritise Miss Schnee. If the White Fang make a move, it will be on her."

Neo smiled and nodded politely.

-o-

Jaune scanned the crowd from the base of the stage. He really wanted to ask why the crowd was so large, but he had a feeling this was more the council's choice rather than the news outlets. The venue was downtown and so it seemed many of the customers that happened to be in the area to shop slowed to watch. The crowd was filled with more on lookers than press. Jaune recognized the foreign press box but noticed the police seemed to be guarding them diligently.

The Chief of Police Oro stood across from Jaune on the opposite side of the rope. The Chief gave him a nod and walked away to Winter as she exited the limousine. Councilwoman Soek walked next to her and paused and waved to interviewers. Behind them the two men flanked the councilwoman. Winter Schnee was followed by two women, but Jaune only recognized Neo. The other guard was wearing an atlas uniform. Neo snapped to attention like the soldier next to her.

Jaune took his time to look around. The police were thorough. Look outs, patrols, stationed officers at junction points.

 _Thank you for those kind words Councilwoman_. Jaune started to pay attention. He did not even know what Soek had said, but it seemed to please the First Lieutenant. _The first round of the security training and updates will start at the end of next week. They will run for the next three weeks. I look forward to my time here in Vale._

That seemed to be the indicator for questions. The councilwoman and First Lieutenant took turns asking the questions. Jaune started to walk around the perimeter. He glanced to the podium and was happy to see it wasn't just Neo that was looking for threats but so were the guards for the councilwoman and the other lady that came with Winter Schnee.

-o-

Winter felt the questions lasted too long. She was really only waiting for her prompt but it seemed to never come. The questioned began to slow and Winter knew she would have to wrap this up soon.

"You sir." She pointed to reporter.

"Miss Schnee, several groups have come to this event to protests your involvement in Vale given your countries own civil disputes. Do you have a reply to these protesters?"

"Atlas has had its own sordid history to match any glory it has earned. Atlas is unique in that it is the only country to have a civil war in the last few centuries. We still feel these wounds today. Some are more visible than others. But Atlas as a people have made progress in the last year. Is it slow? Yes. But so was the color revolution, the organization of the huntsmen, the places like Beacon. They were all in our best interest but it took decades for us to see the change as a positive one. When change comes to Atlas it will not be with our current generation, it will be with the next one. And those children, students, young adults are beginning to see that."

-o-

Jaune smiled and expressed a great sigh of relief. Winter Schnee concluded the speech and followed the engineers off the platform and onto the east gates to their secure transport. Neo's job was over, and no incident. Jaune watched as the press took their time to end their broadcasts. Jaune tipped an imaginary cap to Neo from across the venue. She gave him an exaggerated pout and pointed at him snapped her fingers and pointing at herself. She disappeared a moment later.

 _I wonder what she is going to ask if she thinks I owe her something._ Jaune cheered to himself that the ceremony was over. Now he just needed to see if Winter's answers bore fruit.

The police oversaw the crowds disperse out of the choke points. Jaune waited until most were gone before he started to leave the square. A few of the officers placed on rooftops kept a trained eye to survey the area. Jaune turned down to the main street and walked among the crowd. It felt nice getting lost in the crowd. In the club or even back home, people would have given wide berth of his vest when he wore it. Without it he was just a kid.

Jaune turned his body to squeeze between two people as they walked by. There were a lot of people watching the event and they took their time to leave. Jaune took a moment to look over the streets. _My part is over. For now, I just have to wait and listen. If there are dissenters in the White Fang I am not sure if we will even-_

Jaune swallowed the panic when he heard the click from in front of him. He did not even see how wielded the weapon. Jaune just focused on the barrel as the dust round ignited in the chamber. His hand flew to his stomach where the _PING_ of dust exploded against his leather and metal covered palm. The metal plate there burned hot and the vibration numbed his whole arm. It was stronger than anything he received from Yatsuhashi during practice, never mind Blake's aura enhanced punches from their first day of training.

Jaune looked up to the assailant and realized it was a boy a few years younger than he was. The teen did not even look at the first shot. Instead, he fired a second shot immediately aimed for Jaune's head. Jaune had enough time to reach and grabbed the gun. He lifted it into the air. The assassin screamed as the burning heat from Jaune's glove burned the teen's hands. Jaune felt more than heard the loud crunch as he wrestled for the gun as it fired again into the sky. Jaune punched the the teens stomach. He had no aura.

The crowd seemed to finally reacted as they screamed in alarm. Jaune heard another round from further away fire. "Everyone clear the area, there is still a shooter!" Jaune turned and quickly saw a glowing ball fly toward him. The patrolman raised his hand unsure if he could block the shot that ripped through the air at a faster speed than the downed guys' pistol.

Jaune blinked when the fire exploded in front of him. His ears rang in a long high pitched whine.

Neo glared at the direction the bullet came from. The sniper was already gone. She blinked her pink and brown eyes for a moment before she checked on Jaune.

Jaune exhaled in relief as the VPD were running to him. "Call Oro. Get him to clear the roads." An officer immediately started to send the message even as his partner asked why he was listening to a kid.

Jaune hissed while he looked at his hand. "I didn't think of this." Jaune opened his scrolled and switched it to the team comms. "We got our signal. Ask for the code when you make contact. I'll be in the CCT." Jaune pressed the scrolled against his hip with his good hand. He looked at his left hand. The metal plate had cooled and a weld of a circle was in the center. Jaune knew it was going to be painful to pull off.

Jaune looked around and gestured for Neo to come with him. The teen was handcuffed but he had offered no resistance. He slumped against the officer. He was pale as if he just lost something important.

Jaune glanced at the officer who did not recognize him without the jersey. "If you don't know who I am you'll find out later tonight. Get the kid's hand looked at. I'm pretty sure I broke his wrist. When he is clear, transfer him to Beacon to be incarcerated. Contact Headmaster Ozpin to make the arrangements."

Jaune gave his would be assassin one look before he turned away.

"Do you need medical attention?" The Officer who recognized him asked.

Jaune stood up on shaky legs. That felt too close. "Send one to the CCT. I will be there. Let Oro know too. He may want to come up."

"Neo can you make that jump?"

The woman blinked and her eyes changed from brown and pink to blue. She nodded and clicked her tongue before her eyes reverted to the familiar colors. The two disappeared.

-o-

Juane walked while he cradled his hand. He was not sure if his hand was broken but it was definitely swelling inside the glove. He walked in and passed his scroll over the elevator terminal. "Patrolman Arc. Security floor please." The lift moved.

Neo watched him clutch his hand. She tapped her open palm with the back of her other hand before she gripped it.

"Not broken. I can move my fingers, but it burns. Got a knife?"

She grinned as she pulled her sword out of her parasole. Jaune instantly regretted asking as she ignored the sudden lurch of the elevator and sliced open a small cut into the leather gloves' seams. Jaune started to walk out as he was able to pull the seam further to slide his hand out. The CCT security heard his groan before they saw him. "Patrolman present." he shouted before they responded.

"We have news reports of a shooting."

Jaune grimaced. "Yeah, at me. White Fang were not waiting for an opportune moment to make a statement, they were waiting for me to come out into the open to kill me before their attack. Any word on the teams?" Jaune decided to ignore the fact that Neo was on her scroll sending a message. Word on White Fang were going to get out anyway if that was what that message was about.

"None. We are still assuming trains. Roselink ordered a slowdown perimeter for ten miles entering town."

Jaune grimaced. "That changes if they could move the grim."

-o-

Jaune tried to stay focused and ignore the swelling ache in his hand. Nothing broke but the burns in the shape of a perfect circle was a giant sore welt that had warped the skin in his palm. The glove was a lost cause but he definitely was keeping it as a good luck charm.

"Just keep the salve on it when it begins to dry out. It should heal in a week or so enough for you to use it again. But it will not fully heal for at least two."

Jaune grunted at the instructions. "Thank you doctor. Any word on the kid?"

"His ship should be docking soon. They had to cast his arm. He was transferred to a medical cell in Beacon." The communication operative said as soon as the line to the Police transport closed.

Jaune looked up to see Winter Schnee walk out of the elevator along with her escort and an engineer that was present at the ceremony. Along with a tagalong he was not familiar with.

"Are you alright?" Winter asked when she spotted the bandaged hand.

"I'm fine. Just underestimated my own value. We're waiting for signs of an attack but it has been dead quiet for the hour. I would have thought they would have launched an attack immediately."

"It was why I was delayed. I wanted to see if I had to respond to an attack first. When nothing happened, I headed over. This young one is my sister, Weiss. Weiss, Jaune Arc the Patrolman."

"Hello Mr. Arc." The teen greeted. She was a spitting image of her older sister, just half a head shorter. The future student looked out of her element with the bustling of the communication towers work.

"Good evening Miss Schnee. Winter may I have a private moment? I want to get your thoughts on some developments I found this morning before the ceremony."

-o-

Weiss sat in the corner of the cold office- 'room' was a loose description of the wide hall filled with desks monitors and artificial walls that were used as checkpoints. Her sister dragged her through every check point like a purse and similarly dropped off on a chair like one. She watched as the teenaged boy with the cartoon hoody talked to her like he ran the place. She only vaguely understood what a patrolman did. They were police officers. So why did he have so much authority rather than the police department?

It certainly looked like his authority was higher when he spoke to a councilman, there was no mistaking a politician, he stood out of place as bad as she did in a suit rather than one of the dozens of uniforms everyone else wore. The patrolman would occasionally flex his left hand and touched the bandaged around his palm.

"Are you alright Miss Schnee?"

Weiss looked up to the escort and smiled at the orange haired girl. "I am, ma'am. Just confused at what's going on."

The soldier nodded and admitted, "I was confused at first myself. The patrolman was almost assassinated. The profile fits how the White Fang did such assassinations in Atlas."

"White Fang here in Vale?" Weiss stood up and looked around.

"Apparently. The Patrolman had been in contact with your sister for some time setting up an operation. We are currently in it right now."

That was one question answered. Winter did not leave any room for Weiss to argue about following her. Weiss looked at the group who were on the other side of a semi clear door. Her sister, a councilman someone else she did not know and the patrolman all were in side in some kind of meeting. "Vale doesn't have a military. Do you know why the police are not in this? I would have thought it was something they would do."

"The police protect the city Miss Schnee." Weiss looked up and blushed at the sudden voice. It looks like the meeting ended. When Weiss pushed down her embarrassment she looked up to the Patrolman.

"And you do what exactly?"

The patrolman gave her a grim look as he walked past her, "Patrolmen protect the country."

-o-

Jaune waited like a coiled spring. Nothing happened for the last few hours. Had they decided to pull back after they failed to kill him? Was it just a simple attempt to kill at the earliest opportunity? When he looked to Winter she was watching him. Waiting for some kind of idea of what was going on. He shook his head. The huntsmen were stationed along the railways at check points for trains scheduled or not. Equipment ready to derail them if they did not follow the signal to slow. Ozpin had already notified him that his professors were watching the north and the droids mixed in with fifty huntsmen were following the perimeter of the walls south and east. The ports were locked down. No ships were allowed to harbor.

Jaune looked up, distracted by flashed screen on the next row of desks in front of him. Several people shouted in alarm as their terminals started to flicker. The lights above them shuttered before they fully came back online.

"Sir. Someones trying to override the network! Mian, I need you to pull the database connection cord, Mabu, cut power to the antenne."

 _Isn't that interesting. That only took the second test for your systems to notice._

Jaune walked to Si's desk. But not before he pulled out his scroll and slid it into his hoodie's pocket with a click. "Where's it coming from?"

 _Everything Mr. Arc. I've commandeered almost all equipment that is connected to the network. I must say that you have been a fascinating little annoyance. My only consolation is that hand_ _ **must**_ _hurt._

"Antenne's cut!" Mabu whispered.

"They still have control. They are within the city then." Mian whispered next to Jaune.

Jaune glared at the flickering screen. "I'll survive."

 _Don't be too hard on little Feltch. The boy was doing it for his parents. Sad to say, since he failed, they didn't make it. Please pass along the message of my condolences._

Jaune growled, "Who are you?"

 _Ah! A face to face would be preferable wouldn't it?_ The screens went blank and flickered. Several dozen screens displayed a slim man with a brown mustache. He leaned his head forward in a slight bow. " _Arthur Watts at my lady's service. But it looks like this side is a failure. Beacon's systems are clean. So I will just ask you instead Mr. Arc. Where is the maiden?"_

"You're part of the group that killed Amber." Jaune walked forward and stared at the terminal.

The man just smiled back. " _One of our victories. How about a deal. You hand over the maiden, and I will spare your little city."_ Jaune glared at the man.

" _Still no answer? I would have thought if you were not looking for her, you knew who she was already. But that seems to not be the case. Isn't that interesting. She said you would be looking for her right away..."_ Aurthur Watts stroked his mustache in thought.

"As you can see, I've been busy."

The man laughed. Both equal levels of mirth and scorn. " _Is that what you call it? Funny, I thought you were just enjoying the whispers of young lady? I've chatted with her before you know. She is a charmer. Oh what must the council think of you putting so much faith in a runaway girl I wonder? What_ _ **do**_ _you think Councilman Vosk?"_

Jaune turned around to the councilman in the room. Jaune immediately understood why Vosk had come. He was one of the dissenters in the council. Vosk eyed Jaune suspiciously. Jaune simply reminded him, "There was a reason I withheld the name. You can judge me after this is over. But judging by how this guy came out in the open to talk..."

The councilman looked around and saw the number of people that followed the patrolman. Atlas soldiers to the terminal operator. He knew the patrolman was nearly assassinated and still was committed to the job. Vosk nodded, "I'll hear you out."

" _Well again, disappointing. So much faith in a child. Very well. Let's see how much faith you have by tomorrow morning. You've had your plans Jaune. And so have I. If you have not started looking for her, then I should just eliminate the competition. Beacon and Vale will both fall tonight. If I can't make Vale itself fuel despair. Well…"_ His voice was smug. " _I will have to bring my own supply."_

The line went dead.

"Was there something we could trace off that?"

"Nothing. We were admin locked out of everything. He's probably still watching."

Jaune pulled out his scroll and stopped the recording. He called Roselink. "Are there any problems with the trains?"

Roselink shook his head. "Nothing. They have all been following protocol. They are all going slow and two had just pulled in. Another will pull in just a few minutes."

"Inspect them all. I am coming down." Jaune started to stand. Winter followed. "You coming along?"

"Yes. Weiss stay here. I'll return shortly. Private, with me."

The youngest sister looked as if she would protest but a single look by her sister made her sit down silently.

"Neo, you technically earned your double. Still willing to help me out?"

The woman nodded and happily skipped behind them.

Jaune smiled at her. "Thank you." The patrolman opened his scroll and changed the channel frequency. "All huntsmen are to board their bullheads and immediately report to the train depot."

-o-

The screech of metal against metal rattled the floors as the train came to a full stop.

"We're opening the train for inspection. Conductor relay schedules to the tower." Chrys ordered. He looked at his pad and clicked his tongue. The security protocol would push the schedule back by hours.

"Boss, lights are out, I need a flashlight!"

"Lil's go help the lout. Marv, check the next cart."

There was a scream and the two ran out of the cart and off the train. "Boss it's full of dead bodies!"

Chrys heard the sound of someone vomiting as they jumped from the train. "This one too. It looked like something spilled on top of the dead bodies in there."

There was a roar from something down the train. The metal crumbled and groaned as a hole was made from a grim with a snarl muzzled mouth. Black muscles barely began to form around its head.

"This is bay twenty seven. I need huntsmen. We have grim-."

Another cart wall was crumpled as five bi-pedal grim used bone shaped beaks to tear apart the wall. They jumped down and looked around. Behind them a pool of black ickor dripped from the train cart. It quickly spread across the gravel. A monsterous hand rose out of the ink and pulled itself out.

Over the radio Chrys heard, " _We need huntsmen on bay seventeen! Grim are-!"_

Chrys looked back to the cart near him. "Run to the shelter!" A black mass sulked out of the cart and turned its muzzled head. Its white masked face wheezed once before it jumped on him.

-o-

Jaune felt the ship lurch. The pilot called out over his shoulder, "We have grim flyers. Not many but we can't make a landing here."

Winter walked to the back end. "Open the hatch we'll jump. We'll rally with the huntsmen on the ground when they arrive pilot."

Jaune looked down to the train yard. The floor was covered in a black mass of grim. The only saving grace was that there were so many trains with long carts that they had created a natural barrier to the city.

Jaune announced, "I'll work on containment. Neo can you give me a lift?"

Neo smiled and opened her arms in a hug. Jaune huffed as he walked up to her. "Get us down there near the end of the train yard." Jaune placed his hand on her shoulder.

Neo didn't mind as she hugged him back and disappeared.

-o-

Winter looked at the pair go and shook her head.

"Permission to attack ma'am?"

Winter nodded. "Proceed Private Polendina. There is more grim here than could have fit on the trains. There must be a source."

Private First Class Penny Polendina smiled, "Yes ma'am."

Winter looked around before she chose a place to land. There was a group of huntsmen attempting to hold a line far too close to the center to last for long. They were probably the first responders. She aimed her jump to their location.

Penny took one step back before she jumped out of the bullhead after her commanding officer. She tore off her jacket to reveal a simple t-shirt. With no real weapons she would have to improvise. Scrap metal would have to do.

The girl soldier extended her hand and aimed for the center of the black mass of grim below her. The energy filled shot that built in her palm was not as strong as she would have liked, but she was forbidden to come to Vale fully loaded with weapons. General Ironwood was very specific that the Valian Council may have an information leak and could not apply for permission to bring a weapon to Vale.

The green ball of energy flew towards the trains and burrowed itself into the grim. The green ball disappeared into the morass for a moment before it exploded. Several trains next to the blast were blown over and ripped apart.

"Perfect!" Penny cheered. She landed in the blast crater now free of grim and extended her hands to the ripped metal. Lines of thin strong cables flew from her body and pierced the grim that had already started to fill the crater to kill her.

Penny tested the pull of the carts. The metal lines' _thwang_ echoed over the grim. Metal tore and ripped from the carts in a wide circle. The cords bisected the closest grim and the ones with in range of the scrap metal screeched as whole halves of their bodies were torn out from the jagged pieces.

Penny surveyed the damage and nodded. "There are just a lot of them. Easy." The two metal pieces spun quickly behind her before they started to fly forward.

-o-

Jaune let go of Neo a little too hastily. Neo had a grin that he handily ignored. "Who's in charge?" Jaune called out. Several people were shouting over each other to send directions to pull up the trains as a blockade.

"I am Mr. Arc. We got your message and the huntsmen are inbound in seven minutes. A few of the closest ships have landed already and are making sure the grim are not spreading further, but the numbers keep increasing." The man was not able to keep the tremor out of his voice.

Jaune swallowed and looked around. "We need to create a kill zone. Decouple a few carts and create room four lanes away from here. I'll pull groups in to be wiped out."

Jaune looked over to a huntsmen. "You are in charge of getting the huntsmen on board with this. Start spacing carts apart every three rails." The huntsman nodded and started calling orders. Jaune watched him go and rubbed his hair. It was already damp with sweat in the fading evening light. He looked back to the railway operative. "Get some safety lights on the carts. As many as can cover the first two rails nearest to us. It's getting dark. We don't want grim passing us. The huntsmen will need dust. Contact Roselink and have him to do whatever he needs to do to get it to the huntsmen."

Jaune walked up to the rail. There were no flatbeds on this one and the cart rose nearly thirty five feet into the air. He grabbed the ladder and scrambled up the train cart keeping his injured hand close to his chest. Neo popped next to him and smiled with her hands behind her back.

Jaune sighed at her pleased look and stared straight ahead. The train yard beyond his line was dark. Emergency lights were already illuminating the closest places. The grim had not reached this far yet, but he could hear the snarls of grim and squeal of ripped metal in their attempt to head towards the city.

Jaune looked to the others that stood on the train. Each huntsman looked as nervous as he felt. "Huntsmen, the backup will be on their way soon. I need four kills zones along the trains. I'll pull the biggest ones, choose a leader to call targets. Big ones die first. Conserve as much aura as you can. It's a long night. Fall back if you run low on dust. I requested more to be sent to us."

Neo tapped his shoulder with a coy smile. She pointed back and forth between his eye and hers and gestured to the east side.

"Thank's Neo." Louder he called, "Neo will draw the grim on the east side. I'll take the west."

The plan renewed the men and women's confidence. Jaune smiled as he jumped across the gap and saw the start of the grim's advance. He looked back. Their vigor returned but like him, the huntsmen knew what they were about to go into. "Stay alive. That's an order." Jaune called as he jumped down.

-o-

Winter slammed her sword into the earth. Her summons were picking the smaller grim apart, but they kept coming in waves. She tapped her ear. "Private, report!"

" _Two trains have been emitting a substance that are creating the grim. Most of the substance has been incinerated, but the sources remain resilient. Both trains have at least one every other cart. Sixty sources in total. Permission to destroy trains?"_

Winter wanted to scream out yes, but this was not Atlas. She could not give that go ahead. Winter looked around. The twelve huntsmen that made up the defense force for the train depot looked tired. They had been making a slow retreat back to the depot but the grim kept sniping at them from below the train carts. They could actually see signs of the other huntsmen fighting. "Permission is denied. We need information soldier. Investigate the sources. When found, destroy them."

" _Yes, Ma'am._ "

Winter heard the line go dead. _Sorry Penny._

-o-

Penny closed the line and sighed. The grim began to circle her wearily. It seemed they had started to realize she was to be avoided. It made her job clearing the oil like substance easier. She fired off another wave of energy that combusted as soon as it made contact with the 'substance'.

Penny's systems were unable to analyze the liquid. The train's she wanted to destroy were already in bad shape already. Perhaps she should have said something about their current state. They were nothing more than punctured walls and platforms on wheels. Half of the two trains were no longer on the tracks. The liquid had gone underneath the train carts and grim spawned underneath the train and ripped the metal undercarriage to get out.

Penny sliced four large grim with relative ease. The grim turned into smoke moments later. Penny kept the large scrap metal she used as her blade suspended directly behind her and walked into the first cart. Inside she noticed several bodies. She tried to identify them as personel of the train but found several masks. _White Fang_. She internally processed.

A Grim pushed a large paw out from the liquid on the floor. Penny severed the arm with a swing of the sharp scrap metal. There was a gurgle of pain before she incinerated the pool. She looked around the cart and ignored the other sounds of grim spawning carts down her.

Winter's order paid off. Penny found the source of the substance.

Penny tried for a moment to study the black object that pulsed the liquid like a wounded organ. Penny raised her hand and charged aura into a pulse. She fired the blast into the source. It screeched a death cry before it shriveled and turned to dust. The liquid was still there in puddles. Penny started to incinerate them all before she moved to the next cart. She had a number she had to work through. Plenty of time to analyze.

"Looks like it's time for another piece of metal. This one is no good." Penny hummed to herself. She tossed aside the weakened bulk of metal and tore off another piece of the train cart to replace it as her weapon. Cart after cart that had a source, she found dead members of the White Fang. Body temperature of most of them were still warm, meaning they had died just recently. Enough time where Penny could reason out they were still alive but gravely wounded when the train pulled into the station.

"Something to report." Penny said cheerfully. She was happy she had something to contribute outside of slaying grim.

-o-

Juanes' breath was a loud wheezing pant. The night was running long and he could feel himself running low on energy. He needed to take a rest soon. Whenever he had a group of grim on him he just thought, _The kill boxes were working_. It was the only thing that kept him pushing on. The rest of the huntsmen had arrived quickly and opened up more kill boxes for them to slay the grim. Jaune wove through several trains and paused to rest just long enough for the grim to catch up before he ran again. He pulled his scroll open. "Kill box D, incoming."

Jaune stepped on a half destroyed ledge of the train and into the open cart and out the other side. The grim of various sizes and screeches protested as they scrambled up to enter the hole. They poured out into an open clearing. Jaune ran up the far edge by the time the first group that entered were turned to dust. The huntsmen had taken to resting and spend dust for this round of kills.

Jaune let himself slow down and breathe. He looked around and noticed he wasn't the only tired one. They had been going on for hours. Jaune wondered if this is how it felt for the huntsmen back in Anvil on his first lock down.

The hum of the bullheads above him reminded him to watch out above him. There were not many but there were still flying grim. At least it felt like the bullheads were making progress.

" _Bullhead two two seven to Patrolman Arc."_

"Patrolman Arc."

"Beacon is sending back up now to support your huntsmen. Third wave of huntsmen will arrive shortly."

Jaune thanked the comms before he put away his scroll. "Where did they find more huntsmen?" Jaune felt they had pulled every available huntsmen already.

A heavy stone hit the bottom of his stomach as he recognized who arrived. "Team Brick, Team Oro are you two rested?"

Blanche grinned. "Yes sir. All third years are being scrambled right now. We were already waiting to be called."

Jaune understood what she meant. They probably had a good idea something was happening and just stood on standby.

"There's fourteen kill boxes, Team Brick aid the one furthest east in the rear. Team Oro follow the trains, you are helping support the furthest west in the rear box. Find who the kill box leaders are and follow their orders. Remember your lessons on working together. Stay safe."

The teams dispersed at his order.

-o-

The night chilled the longer Team Brick fought. They had arrived around midnight. After only two hours they had already felt exhausted.

"Team BAIG! Target my lead!" Seven huntsmen fired on the explosion against a massive alpha beowulf that stood twenty feet tall. It nearly broke the line in a single jump. It was only thanks to Baige's leader that they were able to push it back down into the box.

"Team FLRE target my lead!" screamed her kill box leader. She raised the unfamiliar rifle. When they found she had no suitable ranged weapon they had handed her one of their spares. Her favored weapon was ill suited for this work. She only pulled it out when they waited for dust cartridges and had to fight in Melee.

Blanche never thought melee could be so terrifying. She always thought her team could handle any grim they would come across. At times it felt like they were invincible against any grim. There had been more than one time where she wondered how any huntsmen worth their salt could die in the field.

She knew better now.

The noises of the innumerable grim were enough to disorient you in the killbox. More than once, one of her teammates had gone towards the opening rather than the back wall in their retreat. She didn't blame them. The grim moved around in circles trying to get behind the huntsmen and that meant her team also had to move in circles to keep them in front. Someone would call east, and Blanche would not even know what direction it was at times. Only the movement from the older experienced huntsmen gave her a clue.

The Alpha groaned as it collapsed into smoke on it self.

A grim just as large as the alpha tore itself through the metal cart they had used as a choke point. The screech of metal sang in the air as the cart attached to it was pulled off the rail. Several huntsmen swore at the new opening in the choke. Their line had been breached. The giant grim crushed the smaller black horrors below it. The thing with the birds beak roared and shook the air. The silence of the other grim was the only warning she had. Blanche gritted her teeth at the sudden pressure and wave of terror that gripped her. It was like the waves of hopelessness she held back came to the forefront.

"Don't falter! That's the grims attack!" Shouted her leader.

Blanche blinked back tears and lifted her rifle. At a closer look, the grim had a beak and a cracked face mask. It stood on hind legs like a Beowulf but it's arms were shorter and it's body was covered in black feathers. Blanch shuddered. That crack meant it had already survived another team. Had already killed another team.

"Target the mask, don't let the last huntsmen's lives be sacrificed in vain!" Ordered her killbox leader.

-o-

Jaune paused and listened. The unmistakable clang rung in the air. Jaune looked around and jumped up to a flatbed cart and up the ladder to the top of a train cart to see. Several lights of dust exhaust lit in the pitch darkness. In the darkness there was an unexpected form of white dancing against the shadows.

"Winter!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

The woman's hair was in disarray from the prolonged fight. "I got injured." She called across the train roofs.

Jaune pulled his scroll. "Kill box B-team organize a rescue party. Thirteen lines down just in front of you. I have the original huntsmen responders. They have injured."

Jaune jumped down and ran around several grim that straggled between the trains, lost in the maze of scrap metal that was once the carts. He ran up the side of a train before he slowed for the first time in what seemed like hours. "Sorry. Bullheads are still tracking the flying grim. Either you did a good job clearing the grim, or they are slowing down."

Winter looked around. There were definitely less of them now. "They no longer seemed to be spawning. Private Polendina had gone and discovered the source. She has been destroying them ever since."

Jaune frowned and remembered something Qrow had said. "Small black thing that pumps like a heart?"

Winter looked at him startled. "How did you know?"

"I've heard of it before. I just never seen the result be this large."

-o-

Jaune knew he was tired only because the hours blurred together. "Kill box f, I have incoming a large swarm and a pack of bi-pedal grim."

Jaune closed his scroll and jumped up to an edge that barely protruded out of the train cart. The sky was getting a little brighter. He no longer needed to worry about trying to adjust to the light when he ran into the killzone spot lights.

Jaune felt the heat of the aura induced flames that torched the choke point as he ran through. The packs of grim were getting smaller now. But so had the defensive line. Each kill box that was still standing had fewer huntsmen lining the walls when ever he came back to it.

Jaune swallowed some water that was handed him before he ran across the train cart and over the choke point. The patrolman was afraid if he stopped moving he would stop all together.

-o-

Jaune was relieved that most of the grim had been cleared. Daylight would give them time to really spread out and search. But he was happy they had weathered the storm. Huntsmen from other settlements began to arrive to sweep the trains and the region. Seven flying grim escaped but they were killed before daybreak.

Atlas had really come through with Miss Polendina. Winter had explained the girl is a soldier who specializes in slaying grim by her self. General Ironwood had said he wanted to give Winter and Vale as much support as he was legally able. That decision saved Vale. Jaune knew that if she was not there, Vale could have been over run. At best, they could have held the line, but by the time more huntsmen arrived it would just be enough to continue to hold the line. They never would recover fast enough to create a hunting party to dive further into the trainyard.

Jaune drank his coffee and rubbed his thighs inside the train depot office. His legs were sore and when he walked, there was no strength to his steps. Jaune was thankful that everyone held out for so long. But there were a few times he thought they didn't.

Jaune saw the torn sleeve on his arm and sighed. His hoodie was a lost cause. It was torn along with his shirt. The wraps around his chest stopped the bleeding from a few claws that got too close. He was too exhausted to move fast enough to dodge them and he paid for it. Jaune felt lucky it was only scars. He always seemed to have been able to just push a little more when he needed to but just barely. _I really need to train harder or I won't know what those limits are._

Jaune was too busy rubbing his legs to notice that someone stood in front of him until their shoes kicked his. He looked up to see a smiling Neo.

Jaune scrambled to his feet. "Thank you for sticking around for the night. Your contracted ended at midnight. You didn't have to stay."

Neo shook her head and looked up to the corner of her head as if to remember something and made a heart with her hands that went over her chest.

"If that made you nostalgic then I am afraid to ask where you trained. Just the same, I'll reach out to Roman as soon as I can. I think I got a Council Inquiry to answer first."

Just the thought made Jaune realize how exhausted he was.

-o-

Jaune was relieved the council wanted to meet sooner rather than later. They had not expected a presentation but rather a report of what happened. They had said they needed to figure out how to spin this. The train system was effectively destroyed and that would affect the city for months. They were concerned the economy would take a hit over all.

"I wouldn't spin this." Jaune said with heavy bags under his eyes.

A few of the councilmen seemed annoyed at his constant opinions. Coral at least seemed willing to listen. "Why is that Patrolman?"

Jaune pulled out his scroll. "I recorded the conversation with the instigator of this attack from the CCT tower. He is looking for a chink in our armor. If we spin this any other way, we are giving him ammunition. Go public. White Fang attacked the city. As far as we know Arthur Watts arranged for them to be mutilated to die a slow death to draw grim. It was only Roselinks efforts in his security procedure that allowed us time to rally a defense. It wasn't my idea to move all incoming trains to the furthest side of the train year near the ocean. That was all his. It saved us here. As far as the White Fang crisis... The White Fang was crippled today by one of their own. We're not even sure if there are any left. Given this, I hereby relinquish my powers back to the council."

Jaune began to loose focus as Coral Soek thanked him. He snapped to attention. "I am sorry ma'am repeat the question?"

A few on the council sighed in annoyance. With the crisis over the ones that held back their doubts seemed to be more willing to voice them. Soek wasn't among them. She responded patiently. "You said there was a recording?"

Jaune placed down his scroll and played the audio he recorded from his pocket. There was a silence among the council before they started their questions. Jaune looked around the room and found a few sly questions on the lips of the council as if they found blackmail or a reason to protest. Jaune closed his eyes for a second to gather the energy to defend himself. Watts was very deliberate in his wording. Jaune knew it was going to be a long morning before he could go home.

The council meeting was the heaviest inquiry Jaune had faced. At one point, Jaune stopped caring. He just felt numb. He felt like he should be angry, indignant… It was Anvil all over again. He would feel something later. Right now he just wanted to rest.

Jaune looked behind him. There was a door that quickly opened. Ozpin walked in with two members of security reluctant to lay their hands on him. "Here you are Mr. Arc. You are needed in Beacon. I have a car waiting for you outside."

Jaune nodded wordlessly, he was dead on his feet and he felt his shoulder slowed for just a moment by Ozpin's hand. "Rest. That's an order. Good work last night."

Jaune allowed himself to relax at that. "Thank you sir." Jaune walked out the door. It closed behind him.

When the door clicked shut Ozpin turned back to the council, a few looked distinctly uncomfortable at him. The headmaster rested both hands on his cane in front of him. His voice did not convey the smouldering anger he radiated at the council. "Now that _my_ patrolman is gone. I confess that I could not help but hear some of what was said while I waited my turn to speak. So, let's talk about the relations between Beacon and Vale. I think this council forgot exactly what kind of neighbor I am."

-o-

Jaune felt it was around noon when he got back to Beacon. He got confirmation that the huntsmen teams at the train yard were being directed by a huntsman he did not know. The teams would spend the rest of the day sweeping the trainyard for residual grim and evidence. Jaune was happy he just did not need to make another decision.

Jaune finally had the chance to address his burning, aching hand. There was a time where he forgot it was even injured during the night only to be painfully reminded as he had to use it to escape the grim among the trains.

Jaune took off his clothes and stood on shaky legs in the shower. No way was he laying in bed with everything the grim splashed on him. It just occurred to him he made his report like that. Jaune rubbed his face. He'll think about it later.

On the bed he pulled out several rolls of clean bandages and started to wrap his chest. The doctor said he was ok, but he would need to keep the wounds covered. Jaune did his best to place the sanitizer gel on several pads and rested them over his back and chest before he painfully unrolled a bandage to keep them in place. He felt one slide off his back but he didn't care.

He really didn't.

-o-

When Jaune awoke the first thing he knew was that he had awoken laying next to Coco in his bed. It did not surprise him. Nor was he surprised that she was cradling his bandaged hand. What did surprise him and made him groan internally was the trail of run mascara that fell from her eyes. Jaune realized he had not spoken to her since the day before the attack.

Jaune held her hands and kissed her fingers. "I am sorry Coco." Jaune looked at the time and saw it was near two in the morning the next day.

Jaune carefully got out of bed. In the back of his mind he felt like he should wake her and order her back to her dorm. But he felt better knowing where she was right now.

Jaune watched her sleep. A slow smile returned to him. It felt odd now. His lips quivered in effort before he went to the other room. Now that he was awake Jaune needed to make sure. He needed to know what he gave away during the conversation with Arthur Watts.

Jaune ate an apple from the bag she had brought and opened his scroll. Jaune found the conversation recording and hit play. Watts was looking for information. Jaune wish he had a video of himself to see his own face. Did he give anything away? Did Watt's suspect Amber's fake death?

Jaune listened to his voice and the conversation. Jaune never did admit it to the Council when they asked, but Watts truly scared him. As soon as the mad man said he was watching him.

Jaune let the audio end, lifted the scroll and hit the play again. Jaune leaned back in his couch and rubbed his tired eyes. He knew it was hopeless listening to this audio log. He knew that in his mind. He could not tell if he gave anything away.

Jaune lifted the scroll and hit play again. The frustration made him bite back tears. Getting nearly assassinated, purposefully pulling himself in harm's way of grim, the knowledge he wanted to personally meet with the families of the people that died last night. Jaune selfishly knew that none of them affected him like the unknown tells he gave away to Watts.

Jaune lifted the scroll and hit play again. He listened for a hint if Watts picked up on the truth. Jaune felt he wanted to go and scream at the council to make them understand during the meeting. They had understood why he had covered the identity of Blake Belladonna. But it was both an infuriating and embarrassing conversation that they believed he had an illicit relationship with the incarcerated.

Jaune hit play again.

" _Councilmen and Councilwomen. You missed the point of his questions. He wasn't just saying that to divide us. The first question was directed at me. Watts knew who Blake Belladonna was and knew she had betrayed the White Fang from the beginning, but before that, he knew who I was. The last time I went out with my girlfriend was the day after I arrested Miss Belladonna. I knew I would not see my girlfriend for a while and wanted to see her. Watts had been watching me then. He had been doing it for a long time. Possibly since I arrived in Vale."_

Jaune hit play again. Jaune needed to make sure Watts was just watching him. Not Coco.

Jaune hit play again. Watts came to Vale and spoke with her. He was interested enough to speak with her.

Jaune lifted the scroll and hit play. Jaune needed a clue. He needed an assurance before he could sleep. That he bluffed Watts. That he did not give Watts a clue of what was happening. Jaune was desperate to know that Watts was not watching Coco.

Please not Coco.

Jaune hit the play button again.

A/N: Whew! It's done! Thanks for the reviews! A lot happened in this one but it was one of those sections that did not have enough for two chapters unless I really want to drag out the twenty four hours of the end of the chapter.

One more chapter for this story arc. I will post that next week. Think of it more as an epilogue for this story arc than anything else. It was what I was thinking of spinning off into just its own story, likes "Stories from Beacon". But ultimately this story could not stand on its own. And it is kinda important. I'll just keep that spin off idea on the back burner for now.

And it took 6 chapters and 120kwords but we have Neo again! And Penny! Next story arc is going to be fun. Been waiting for these two to enter the story. Back when I was planning out key points I honestly thought the story would have progressed quicker and she would have appeared four chapters ago. Oh well.

And I did decided to keep the name. Mostly because of the epilogue. I appreciated the input you all had for that one.


	9. Chapter 9 Epilogue With Coco

Coco traced her finger across the rim of her cup before she lifted it to drink the first sip of coffee of the day. She had a hard time pulling back the smile from her favorite drink.

 _Ah!_

Breakfast on a friday. A holy time in a young huntress life. This mornings' ritual is the weekly tithe to the grim slaying gods so she may kill one more grim today than the last. She looks around to either side of her teammates, finding a disturbance in her highly attuned sens- "OW."

"You deserve it Fox. You been muttering to yourself all morning." Coco leveled a raised eyebrow to Velvet who looked like she had been straining to keep a straight face. "Muttering to Velvet for a while now." She corrected. "Two more classes and we're done for the week. You figure out what we're doing Velvet? Or are you going to try and narrate my life all weekend?"

"Pool or movie. I would rather do the pool. We'll not have too much sun in the next month."

Coco nodded and let the group decide on their own. She set her cup down and looked around the dining hall. When it comes to early mornings, it was rare to have a few teams up and about. This morning there was actually only one team that looked fully ready to fight grim… Coco had never paid attention to the seniors above her grade, but ever since Jaune had taken to lead them into the forest to clear grim, she started to actively watch them. Jaune never did tell her why Beacon wanted the seniors to work in groups. The sudden change put off every second and third year. The school had never done this before.

Coco had almost forgotten that the seniors would have been up for hours. But it was rare to see them awake in the dining hall at this hour. Too early for classes but way too late if they had gone to the forest.

"You're staring Coco." Fox said, interrupting her thoughts.

Coco hummed to herself. It made Fox turn around to see what she had been staring at. His aura senses only read developed aura's. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Coco asked, "Velvet what are those guys talking about?"

Velvet's ears twitched subconsciously turning her focus even before she meant to. She scowled at Coco for a second and listened. "They found some kind of print in a ravine. The teams were all recalled after finding it. The teachers were not happy whatever it was. They are talking about what it could have been. The afternoon sweep was cancelled too."

Coco rubbed her temple and looked down at her scroll. Jaune had been silent for a few days. He usually said a good morning or a good night, but she did not get either of those for a day.

Coco found it hard to actually describe what it felt like to be Jaune Arc's girlfriend. But she knew there were times where it was just stressful. Yatsu had been her hero in all this. He was the one that told her to be patient with the man. It was what got Coco to really look carefully whenever Jaune came back from a mission. The days he stayed at Beacon were the ones she was the most relieved. Whenever he was off on a case for a long time, when he came back…

"You've been doing this all week. Just go by his room tonight, you know he doesn't mind."

It was a credit to her team that none of them intended any innuendo. Fox stood up. "Let's get to class."

The team gave a round of grunts as they stood up together and left.

Coco exhaled and started to walk after her team. Fox was right. One more class in the afternoon. She could focus now and contemplate later.

Even those thoughts didn't alleviate Coco's boredom in class. She was very disappointed when she found that History would always be her last class of the week. She had to double check when she first read her schedule. Coco would write a note or two before she looked around the class. She could focus, but it seemed like every history teacher tended to drone on about the facts before getting into the interesting things like _why_ figures made those decisions. At least this guy didn't' talk as fast as Doctor Oobleck. Didn't move as fast as him either. Her neck was spared the whiplash this year it seemed.

Eventually the class ended. Yatsuhashi and Velvet had already started plans on what they wanted to do for the weekend. Coco tuned them out. It sounded like a trip to the pool before it got too cold. She wondered if Jaune would have the time.

Coco checked her scroll and sighed in disappointment. Nothing. Back in the dorm she slumped on her bed while the boys went to check out keys to go to the pool. "Velvet?" Coco asked.

"What's up?" Velvet had already put on her bathing suit and was looking for her beach towel in the closet.

"When did I get this mopy?"

"You mean this time?"

Coco tossed her scroll across the bed. "It's been that bad?"

Velvet laughed and rolled up the towel and grabbed her sun tan lotion. "Coco. You've been like this since you met him and realized he wouldn't be around very often."

Coco covered her face with her pillow. "I used to be a badass."

"You still are, now you got a guy you like. It's not the end of the world." The rabbit faunus reasoned. "Have you really changed that much? Not really. You still dress us up like we are your dolls when we go shopping. You scare the hell out of Fox when you disappear. And Yatsu pulls you by your collar when you need a leash." Velvet laughed at the pillow that landed on the floor near her feet. Velvet picked it up and tossed it back to Coco's bed.

"But I didn't used to feel this way." Coco sat up and kicked her shoes off. She started to think the pool would be a good place to cool her head off.

"You are worried about him. You care. I am sure it's hard for the both of you since you guys are never together unless you both make the effort. It would test any relationship. What is it exactly that's bothering you?"

"It's just…" Coco thought of Jaune and sighed. She didn't want to bring it up with Velvet. It wasn't like Coco was heart broken that she couldn't see Jaune all the time.

How do you describe to your friends it is always scary the first time Jaune comes back from a case? A big one. Every time she saw him come back, he was a little different. Yatsu warned her that a patrolman's life was hard. _Patrolman are worn._ He had told her.

Coco thought she might have been able to help with that. It was an optimistic thought. But every time he came back. There was a shadow behind his smiles. An exhaustion- no, a fear in him. Coco did not have the words to describe this horrible feeling that has hung over her since Jaune went on his new case. "This case he is working on is different from the others. I don't know…" She finished uselessly.

Velvet was about to say something but paused. "Something's up, the boys are running up the stairs." Velvet ran to the bathroom to change back into her regular clothes.

Fox ran in first. "Turn on the news. There's been a shooting in downtown. The city is on lock down. Beacon is too."

"Why are we?"

Yatsu walked into the dorm. "Not sure, but it was the only reason we checked the news. The office said that all after school activities are cancelled. There should be an announcement soon."

Coco flipped on the news. The news broadcast overlooked downtown square. It was mostly empty and the chairs platforms had been abandoned. Eventually the intercom for the school came on.

 _Attention. Students-_

"That's Ozpin." Fox muttered.

 _Are to return to their dorms. Further instructions will be announced._

The line went off and Coco sighed and turned the channel. "This was the event Jaune was organizing."

"I'm sure he's fine Coco." Yatsu assured her. "They would have said something if someone was killed."

-o-

Fox and Velvet looked up before the whine of the horns was loud enough for their teammates. Team CFVY gathered around the window to look at the city's dotted city lights. The whine turned into a roar the way it echoed off the water of the black lake. There was no moon out tonight.

 _Attention. Third year students are to arm themselves for possible grim invasion and wait on standby in the cafeteria. This is not a drill. Second year students are to secure their dorms and await further instructions._

Yatsu turned on the television and watched the scramble of news. "I"ve never seen the signal this scrambled outside of my home village." Through the signal distortion they heard a woman's broadcast.

" _-have found grim invading the train yard. Current huntsmen have responded to the attack. All civilians are to retreat to the shelters immediately. Follow police directives."_

The screen changed to a scroll of the text followed by a camera watching over the train yard depot. The camera could barely make out spot lights on the train a ways from the depot building. An hour later the feed was cut and dead air was all the channels picked up.

Coco turned off the monitor and fidgeted with her boots. It seemed like no one wanted to talk.

"Coco, Fox you are both going to wear yourselves out like that. Sit down and find something to occupy your time." Yatsu reminded them.

Coco looked over to Fox who seemed intent on staring out the window. Coco sighed. "Stop that Fox. Conserve your aura."

Fox grunted before he got up from his seat and deliberately sat on the opposite side of the window.

 _Third years are to dispatch to the bullheads. Rally at the train depot with Patrolman Arc. He will issue orders._

The line went dead and Coco stood up and paced. She was relieved he was safe. It was impossible to know how bad it was, but they had not called all huntsmen yet from the school. And it had been hours before they needed to call the third years.

The side that studied these tactics knew better than to lie to herself. If they were calling students it did not look good. "Guys get your gear and let's get to the lobby. They'll call second years next."

The group was quiet when they gathered their gear. A team from across the hall opened their door. He stared at Coco and her team before he nodded. "Cypress Team, let's go."

That seemed to be the signal as team leaders called out to their teams when they opened their doors and walked down the stairs to follow. Coco glanced at the clock and resisted the urge to yawn. Two in the morning.

 _Second year students in building three, report to the infirmary for incoming wounded. Second years students from building seven report to the bullhead terminals to clear incoming flying grim._

"That's our signal kids!" Coco shouted to fire herself up. The lobby of students roared as they ran out of dorm seven to the bullhead pads. Bullheads circled the air attempting to clear the grim that had latched themselves onto the ships.

Glynda Goodwitch stood on the platform with a communication headset on her ear. "Beacon to Bullheads, Beacon's call sign changed to Medial Site Three, emergency ships land first." The professor looked over to the students, "Two bullheads are making emergency landings. Clear the grim so we may transport the injured."

"Team Coffee take point." She looked over to Citrine.

He nodded in agreement. "Team Cypress take center left." The other teams followed their lead and called out the bullheads they would clear of grim.

The first ship landed in a near crash. The three gryphon grim had burrowed into the ships' left engine which made it impossible for the aircraft to slow to a safe landing. Velvet and Fox jumped up to the ship when it came to a full stop on the landing pad and attacked the first grim's wings. Velvet vaulted over the grim and thrust a kick downward against the joint of its wing. Fox used his blades to slice at the point the wing bent. The grim screeched before the two kicked the grim off the ship. Yatsu received the grim with a slice of his sword bisecting it in two.

Coco swung her purse upward at the second grim when it thought she was vulnerable. The head bent backwards before she swung wide in a hook to crush the mask with the butt end of her purse.

"Conserve aura." She ordered. She looked up and saw more grim had followed the air ships.

-o-

Coco sat on the floor against the wall. She ran out of water but was too tired to go get more. The fights with the grim were never long. But there were so many small skirmishes as bullheads unloaded injured huntsmen and loaded dust before they flew back to the trainyard.

She had learned from the injured huntsmen that hundreds of grim had spawned _inside_ the train yard. They had never seen it before. The lines held them at bay, but barely. One huntsman said he was not sure how they would launch a counter attack at this rate. They were just holding the line.

Sooner than she expected the intercom announced that most of the fighting was over. The defensive line held. The grim were finally thinning out. Coco had not fought any flying grim for at least an hour and her team took turns napping through the night.

She did not know how Yatsu was able to lean that far down and still be technically considered sitting up while his head rested against her shoulder. But Velvet looked like she was laying on top of him for as large as Yatsu was.

"You can sleep too Coco. The aura at the train station is getting stronger. They seemed to either have gotten more backup or people are returning to the line rested."

"Fox... stop using your aura. You need to rest too."

"I will once I know for sure that the fighting is over." Coco didn't blame him. The ships had stopped coming, but they were both waiting to see if their team would be called to the front lines like the third years. One of the teams came back early. Some poor third year nearly lost his arm from the shoulder on. The grim that mauled him had gnawed him until his aura broke.

"There's word! White Fang used suicide members to spawn grim!"

Coco opened her scroll. She was not the only one. Every student that was awake pulled their scroll. Slowly Yatsu and Velvet awoke from the stir. Coco showed them her scroll. Reports were hazy at best this early in the morning. After another hour, daylight broke the skyline.

 _All students not currently active on projects are dismissed back to your dormitories. Thank you for defending our home._

Coco exhaled in relief at Professor Goodwitch's announcement. "I am ready to sleep." But even as she said it, she felt like going in a different direction.

"You know he won't be there yet right? And when he does he'll just go to sleep." Coco looked at where she was going and raised her shades to rub her eyes. "I know." Coco pulled her scroll and simply sent a text.

 _Call me._

-o-

Coco woke up in her dorm by herself. The huntress stood up and grabbed her scroll. She was only marginally disappointed when Jaune had not messaged her. Coco showered and sleepily put on her clothes. She was fully awake as she checked every angle to make sure she looked decent enough to leave the dorm. It seemed she had slept for only six hours at most before her stomach woke her up. She messaged Yatsu who said everyone is in the cafeteria

 _He meant everyone_. Both third and second years crowded around scrolls.

She found her team watching something. Fox turned to her looking bored. "Someone recorded the fights. Doesn't do anything for me though."

Velvet blushed."I'm doing my best."

Fox flinched. "Sorry Velvet I didn't mean that you weren't helping. I appreciate the narration."

Coco sat down to resume watching it. Apparently is as a single video that lasted three hours. "Coco. Just to warn you, some people die in this."

Coco nodded. She appreciated the warning. She had an idea what a kill box was and how it was supposed to work. But the way the huntsmen coordinated the terrain was something else. One side would collapse into the box. When the grim turned to commit to attacking the vanguard. the other side of the killbox would collapse and attack the rear. There were a few moments in the flurry of activity that both sides were just a swirl of black mass. What bothered Coco the most was half of the time, they had been fighting in the dark.

There was a gasp and whimper from behind her. Apparently a team knew someone that had died or was wounded on the video they were watching. Coco found out there were actually a number of students who had the same thought and set their scrolls down and press the record button.

 _In coming!_

Yatsu paused the video. "Coco. Jaune is in this video. I'm sorry. Forgot to mention that."

"So he's ok?"

Yatsu nodded but she noticed Velvet shuffle near Fox. "You'll see." Yatsu resumed the video.

 _Five large ones, two swarms. They like to hug the walls!_ Jaune screamed as he ran across the empty kill box and up the wall. He let his momentum carry him the final few feet and jumped to pivot inplace. The camera didn't move to follow him. But she was able to hear his panted voice. The ripped clothing was just as alarming to watch.

Moments later the camera refocused on the changing shapes that ran through the choke point. A mass of small grim the size of locusts flew low to the ground and piled the walls and tried to attach themselves to the top of the train carts to fly over. The small grim began to jump over the train carts.

 _The line is breached! Huntsmen fall back to the next kill box zone. I need four emitting huntsman to burn the grim!_ Someone screamed. The scroll was picked up by a white hand. The pants and wheezes of a dozen huntsmen were all they heard from the black screen.

 _Up the train. Up damn you!_

 _I need a spot light!_

The screen uprighted itself right in front of a spot light that hovered over four huntsmen volunteers. The four were quickly surrounded by the locust grim as the grim jumped to envelop the huntsmen. The four desperately tried to clear as much grim as they could. Waves of aura and dust flashed the screen white. When the fire cleared only two of the huntsmen remained. The slowest one released a pained cry that echoed off the metal for his sister that never followed him back.

Coco stood up. Velvet patted her shoulder. "He should be back."

Coco nodded and started to walk away. She spotted a few apples and grabbed a bag to fill it. Her appetite was gone but she forced herself to eat something on the way to Jaune's apartment.

The cry of that one guy felt too real for her. She just needed to make sure Jaune was okay.

When she opened the door she knew he was already back. His slow snoring was a gift. She smiled and set down the bag on the table and walked towards the bed room. She didn't mind napping next to him again. She nearly stepped on his hoodie. It was tossed uselessly on the floor. She shook her head as she lifted it. It was his favorite thing in the wor-

When she fully spread it out she saw the number of rips and tears. The black residue of grim remains covered most of the front. The happy cartoon rabbit that sat in the center had two large tears in it where something clawed his chest. Signs of blood darkened the cloth in blotches. Coco set the hoodie on the chair and walked into the room.

Even after she was alarmed by the blood on his hoodie, she had to smile. It was always the same position with him. He slept heavily, flat on his stomach. His head turned to the center of the bed. He wore simple boxers. She ignored them in favor of the bandages that wrapped his chest and arms.

Coco sat on his bed and watched as he did not even stir. She rolled onto the bed and looked at him. He snored lightly and would pause to swallow and puff before his breathing went back to normal. Coco lookat at his bandages. She remembered the one on the chest of his hoodie and had an idea she would see a large scar on his chest when it was fully healed. Coco sighed as she took Jaune's bandaged hand.

 _That's right, these will never fully heal. He will always have scars._ It was only something huntsmen who were low on aura during a fight truly experience. She had received plenty of deep cuts and gashes herself but her aura guaranteed they always healed cleanly and markless.

Jaune would never have that. She looked down his exposed body and knew every mark he received last night would stay. She held his hand. He flinched at that one. "It's always going to be like this, isn't it?" Coco hated the quiet resignation in her voice.

Jaune will always return marked more and more. He was so young but he would have more scars than the most experienced huntsmen. Coco held his bandaged hand carefully. It did not seem to be the worst, but it was the most sensitive. She closed her eyes and thought of the video. He had been in front of grim that could have killed him all night. He would change again. There would be a little less of him now. There is no way he could stay the same after this. The thought made Coco tremble.

Coco thought she had woken him up when she exhaled an unsteady breath. His eyes were furrowed and his body began to sweat. "Shh. It's ok." Coco whispered into his bandaged palm.

When he still shook, Coco moved both hands to his bandaged one and kissed his fingers. She didn't want to try and wake him. So instead she sang:

 _I set sail tonight… for the morning light…_

 _Push on… Push on… So close to dawn._

 _So close to you… I push through and through_

 _My strength 's in you…_

Coco teared. Her voice broke. She really liked this song when Jaune sang it. She only remembered the first few words. She rubbed her cheek to his hand.

 _My love, my champion,_

 _my sweet stable boy._

Coco watched as Jaune finally began to relax.

 _Know that I'll be here, so sleep, and rest._

 _And see me in "_ the morning." She finished in a whisper.

Coco suddenly felt drained but pulled closer to him and hummed what she remembered as she held his hand. With no more energy left in her, she fell asleep to the slow sound of his breathing.

-o-

The soft murmur of background noise woke her up. Her stomach growled again. Coco looked around and realized Jaune was not in bed. She laid back for a moment before she rolled out of his bed. The huntress sighed when she saw Janue sat on the couch. He clicked his scroll and played an audio file.

She cleared her throat as she realized she was about to listen to something that was probably classified. "Jaune?"

Jaune looked up and smiled weakly at her then stopped the audio recording. The bags under his eyes along with his pale skin made Coco anxious. "Morning Wench."

Coco smiled at the name and walked around to sit on his good side. "I guess it _is_ morning." She looped her arm under his and laced their fingers together. She reached up and kissed his cheek. "I'm glad you are back. I was worried."

"I'm sorry."

Coco just accepted the apology. "Third years recorded the grim invasion. I saw a little bit."

Jaune looked up ready to say something but thought better of it. Instead he just said, "It's good that you know what the worst of it can look like."

"Is it always that bad?" Coco leaned her head on his shoulder.

"That was the worst I've seen it. But we may see more." Jaune inhaled sharply. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that to you."

Coco understood. She had no idea what to say. Coco just knew that he was still wound up. It was harder to do it without wrapping her arms around him, but she leaned gently against his arm until he seemed to relax. "When you are all healed up lets go out. Let's spend time with friends. Lets just be kids for a while."

Jaune smile was bitter. "I'm… not sure I know how to do that anymore."

Coco closed her eyes and buried her face against his shoulder. "I'll teach you. I'll teach you all about how to be a teenager. How to have fun and enjoy just being young. But can you promise me something?"

Jaune still looked exhausted. His usual cold surveying eyes lacked that edge. "Anything for you Coco." he said before he closed his eyes and let his forehead touch the side of hers.

Coco stood up and carefully straddled his legs. She gently pressed her lips against his. "Let someone help you. You can't shoulder everything by yourself. If it can't be me, find someone to share everything with." Coco hovered her arms around his shoulders and gave the gentlest hug she could. Even then she felt him flinch in her arms.

Coco leaned back to look at him. She was relieved to see he was really listening to her. "I know you are doing a lot of work by yourself. I know you have things you can't tell me. I understand all of that. So I want you to find someone you can trust. Your not unbreakable and I want to see you come back to me whole." She leaned forward and hugged him. This time he reached up and pulled her closer. She knew that must have been painful. But he squeezed her anyway. As if to desperately never let her go.

Still, she whispered into his ear, "I love you Jaune. So please? Get some help?"

A/N: You know how you need to cut scenes to help the flow of the main story? The tone of the two parts did not mesh well, especially the endings.

I tried a few things while writing the last chapter from extending the last chapter (felt bloated). I thought of forcing it all into two chapters, (felt like I would be doing pointless filler). Try and make this a separate story for the things outside of Jaune's point of view (This chapter was too important for it to be seen as supplementary). So I thought an epilogue was a happy middle ground. This was just too important to cut, and it's a nice bookend to the White Fang arc.

Again thank you for the reviews. I'm looking at towards the end of August for the next chapter. But it's summer so maybe I will have more time. See you all next chapter!


	10. Chapter 10 Kids

Jaune, for the first time in what seemed like ages, sat and just talked with Coco.

Coco told stories about her week, and Jaune described the third years he worked with during the same period. He shared some of the problems he ran into with the teams working together and Coco described what was different in her second year already compared to her first. There was no talk of death, or the case, or the looming things he would need to do once the rest of the world awoke to start their day. Coco and Jaune did not mind that they started their day at four in the morning. Because they were together.

"You're touching your scroll again." Coco chirped in a reminder.

Jaune looked at his hand and smiled. He had been reaching for it ever since the sun rose. Anvil was an hour ahead of Vale. They would be awake by now. "So I am. Ok. Fine. I'll call them."

Coco squeezed closer to him as she took his scroll. Jaune gave a nervous laugh that made him squirm in his seat when she opened his address book and clicked the scroll icon for 'family'. She raised the scroll but not before she unbound her hair and straightened up in her seat.

"Nervous?" Jaune whispered in her ear.

Coco gave a curious _hmm_. "I'm about to be introduced to my boyfriends parents to explain how he nearly got killed. Nervous is somewhere on the list." Jaune simply held her hand with his good one in support.

It took a few moments of ringing before a blonde girl only slightly older than Jaune answered the call. The eager raise of the girls eyes turned happy, "Good morning Jaune! Glad to see you finally called! It only took you a few months this time. Mom will be happy." The blonde girl paused and noticed the girl next to her brother. Then she raised her eyebrows which were lost into the bangs of her hair. "Are you going to announce some happy news?" She asked while she observed how close Coco sat to Jaune.

Jaune shook his head. "She did sing back to me a while ago." He answered honestly. He heard the sudden nervous laughter from his sister. Coco simply squeezed his hand twice at the inside joke. "Morning Nuit. Are mom and dad awake? I need to talk to them. It's important."

The girl nodded before the scroll screen blurred around the house. Nuit's hand disappeared before Jaune stared at his mom. She wore her old apron she had owned since he bought it for her on her birthday nearly four years ago. "Morning Jaune, and friend. Hello my name is Allison." The mother smiled at the two.

"Morning Mom, this is my girlfriend Coco. But that isn't why I am calling. Can you get dad and find a quiet spot to talk?"

His mother rested a hand on her hip and nodded before she set down the scroll. Pans were scraped against the metal grates on the stove. The apron fell in front of the camera before it disappeared from view. Jaune knew that his mother was going to the smithy.

"She didn't look surprised." Coco said quietly.

"It's not the first time we've had this kind of talk." Jaune muttered. "But they would normally know what happened already. News travels slow to Anvil from the capital. Dad is probably one of the few people outside of the huntsmen and patrolmen that owns their own scroll. And I bought him that one."

It was a concession when he accepted his job at Beacon without informing his parents right away. He was already horrible at keeping in touch _inside_ Anvil. They only felt a little better when Jaune bought his father a scroll before he left. Granted Jaune never called them in the last few months. But the token effort was there. It just didn't ease his conscience.

"Jaune." The tall blonde man answered. "And guest." Jaune's father corrected himself. "Good morning. My name is Nathaniel."

"I'm Coco." Coco replied. Jaune rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand in support.

Jaune's father did not seem to notice anything and looked at his son. Jaune's mother sat down next to his father. It was his mother that asked, "What happened?"

Jaune raised his bad hand in a nervous wave. His father could pick out how hurt Jaune was with those bandages. There was no sense in pretending otherwise. Jaune let Coco ease into him. "You'll hear about it soon. But Vale had a grim invasion."

-o-

"I am sorry Mom. I have to go." Jaune looked at the notification on the screen. "I'll give Coco the scroll contact if you would like that."

Coco's indulgent smirk made him almost regret he made the offer. She ran her fingers over the top of his hand. "You're too good to me."

Jaune's mother cleared her throat to get their attention. She gave them a parting look that expected more calls in the future. "I would like that very much as well. Take care. Both of you." Jaune's mother ended the line.

Jaune reluctantly closed the scroll. The chat with his parents was kinder and more comforting than he expected. Coco charmed them with her questions and Jaune just took the time to look at his parents. It had been a while since he talked with them. It was so different when he could not just drop by and say hi on his way to work.

"I'm sorry Coco. I really have to go." Jaune pulled his girlfriend up from the couch and repressed the urge to sigh. A day with Coco sounded so much more appealing than what he needed to do today.

Coco had already wrapped her arms around his neck now familiar with where to rest her arms without hurting him. "Don't be. But you promised me some time now that you're done with your case. And I plan to take all of it." Jaune just enjoyed the moment before she stepped back. Jaune could not resist the smile on his face as she leaned over the table to grab the empty bag. Coco turned to wink at his lingering eyes. "See you around stableboy."

Jaune stared at the closed door for a moment and quickly turned to get some clean clothes on. Redressing his wounds would have to wait. Now that he was a little more alert, Jaune sent a message to the headmaster.

The Council had summoned him.

-o-

The headmaster seemed to have expected the call. He simply said he would be waiting outside with a car to drive them. Jaune wondered at that. A car would take an extra fifty minutes to drive around the lake and down the mountain ridge to enter the city. Plus the time for the wall check in just to enter the city. It was why Jaune usually just took a car to the port while inside Vale rather than drive or run directly to and from Beacon.

The headmaster was dressed in his sunday's best. Black pin striped suit and cane with a green ascot. "Good morning Jaune. I think we should speak before you have your meeting."

Jaune appreciated the gesture. He got into the extra long limousine and noticed there was coffee and tea ready to be made.

"I don't think I have ever asked what you preferred. So I had filled the car with both." Ozpin said genially. He gave a two fingered wave to the driver who simply started to drive forward. The glass divide went up and turned dark to give Jaune and Ozpin some privacy.

Jaune quickly started to seep some tea. "Thank you sir. Tea in the morning, coffee if it's late night if you're curious."

Ozpin sounded amused as he leaned back in his seat. "I'll make note of it. As to why we are making the Council wait, I have had a long conversation with the council after I had dismissed you for the weekend to rest. First, I apologize. I am sorry I was not there from the beginning."

Jaune tilted his head slightly. "Sir?"

"Perhaps you were too tired to realize it, but a few of the councilmen were attempting to frame the conversation in a way that you would take responsibility for the attack."

Jaune closed his eyes and tried his best to remember the debriefing. He remembered losing patience at their reframing of questions. "Sorry Sir. I honestly don't remember too much of the conversation."

Ozpin agreed with a quite hum. "Councilwoman Soek agreed and attempted to curb the conversations for a later date. The council could see you were dead on your feet. When it was clear several of the councilmen were looking for reparations. I stepped in."

Ozpin watched Jaune as the teen closed his eyes and shook slightly. His patrolman exhaled an angry puff and looked up to his boss. "What happens now?"

Ozpin was always impressed with Jaune's professionalism. "You will find out today. I was not summoned so I am unable to walk in with you. Just be aware that several people have made attempts to try and renegotiate your contract with Vale. I have corrected their misunderstanding on that stand. But as to what else they want, I am unsure. It was your case."

Jaune set his tea down and crossed his arms. " _Was_ being the operative word. I am curious how the last twenty four hours worked out since I was not apart of the investigation afterwards. I had expected something in terms of directions or requests. I had received nothing. As far as I am aware, Winter knows more about the situation than I do."

The headmaster frowned. "That may be the case. I have spoken briefly about the incident to General Ironwood. But I would like you to speak to him directly on our next meeting."

Jaune nodded. "I still owe Atlas a report for the initial incident. I'll prepare something by the end of the day." Jaune paused for a second as he realized he needed to make visits for the huntsmen. "Maybe tomorrow."

"You have until the end of initiation if you want to put a deadline for yourself. But this would merely be a meeting to give your impressions and observations of the invasion itself."

"Thank you headmaster." Jaune looked out the window. The car had finally made its way around the length of the lake and started down the ravine towards the city. "I wanted to thank you for allowing me to do my job on this case without your interference after I had demanded so many requests for points of contact with the huntsmen."

Ozpin watched as his Patrolman lowered his head. "Jaune. As a private citizen I am as much required to follow a patrolman's requests during a state of emergency."

Jaune appreciated that the headmaster said that. "Thank you." Jaune finished his tea in one drought. "I do have a confession to make and a few requests."

Ozpin remained silent but he simply put his hand forward for Jaune to continue.

Jaune rubbed his eyes. "I was stupid and wreckless these last few weeks. I have tried my best to make sure there were double contingencies and back ups for everything I could think of. But I made a fatal mistake that I did not realize until this last week."

Ozpin frowned. He was curious what Jaune meant. He thought the patrolman did an exemplary job during the crisis.

Jaune frowned and swallowed thickly. " _I_ was a point of failure. If I had fallen ill, got too exhausted or killed, if anything happened where I could not make it to the CCT after the assassination attempt on my life, Vale could have fallen. I knew I needed backup and help for weeks now. The case was too large. It kept getting larger. The emergency powers helped with the logistics but I could feel myself lose focus. It all came to a head after the invasion. You saw what I was like when you walked into that Council meeting."

"What can I do to help?"

Jaune felt reluctant to ask since his position was tenuous at best for Beacon. The job only became viable as Ozpin and Glynda found other roles for him to fill.

"I need a partner. Someone who is physically fast enough to keep up with me if I have to go in a pursuit at the very least. Vale is larger than any town a Patrolman was trained to work in. I have a feeling that there will be more I will have to do beyond this invasion and none of it would be related to Watt's and his companions."

Ozpin exhaled through his nose. "I will see what I can do. If I find someone, I'll let you know."

Jaune nodded and leaned back into his chair. He closed his eyes for a moment and suddenly felt tired and dizzy from it all. Under closed eyes, he muttered. "Thank you Sir."

-o-

Coral Soek rested her elbow on her arm chair and resisted the urge to rest her chin on her hand. Some councilmen who she did not wish to name, Coral sent a baleful glare to Ardus, had begun to lose patience with the patrolman's tardiness. He was requested over two hours ago.

"Councilmen." The voice on the other side of the door announced. "Presenting Jaune Arc, Patrolman of Beacon Academy."

There was an impatient shuffle when Coral stood up. With her lead, her fellow supporters stood up. An alarmed grunt resounded as other scrambled to their feet. Coral spotted Ardus' scowl deepen at the gesture as he stood up.

Coral inspected the young man who walked in the door. It seemed he had not fully recovered. A pair of blue jeans and a black shirt with the simple blue jersey worn by the patrolmen out in the frontier. He looked thinner now. The bandages he wore bulge in odd places against his tight fitting shirt and jersey.

In a way, Coral had to concede to Ardus about a few things. The patrolman was a boy in their eyes. Not even eighteen. She read what happened to him in Anvil. After the lengths he made to keep Vale safe, she did not wish him to experience that same problem here.

 _So much for that thought_. Coral thought to herself.

"Good morning Patrolman."

Jaune's alert eyes looked back to her with a slight bow. "Councilwoman Soek."

Coral smiled slightly. "Please be seated. There is much to discuss about the future contingencies for Vale. Resume recording." She said to her aid. "This session is a preliminary overview of the incident labeled as the Patrolman Defense."

-o-

"That simply leaves the child assassin who made an attempt on your life."

Jaune cleared his throat. "I have not spoken to the prisoner since his incarceration. Medical staff at Beacon have not informed me of any emergency issues to his health. I would like to question him in regards to the attack but I can not sentence him. I ask if Vale would receive custody of the boy."

A few of the members exchanged glances, Jaune spotted a subtle shake of a councilman's head to another. Coral Soek noticed the exchanges and frowned as well. "It appears we would need to vote on it. Concerns against?"

Councilman Ardus growled in his worn old voice. "We are already have a wave of anti-faunus sentiment in the city. Some of the more stout supporters of the old ways will look for this to strengthen their base in the commerce guilds. We had just had a debate with the commerce guild about the status of unequal wages last year. Now is not the time to show ways to divide any group."

"The people would want to see justice done Ardus." Someone replied from across the table. Jaune looked over to Choro. He was the councilman that owned the northern mountain border. His pale face and gaunt eyes narrowed. "Let them have it. It would be good for someone to gain some kind of closure."

Coral rested her hands folded on the top of her desk and added, "On this I think Councilman Ardus is right. What you are proposing Choro is to apply all the crimes on the White Fang on a single person. We can not do that. If Vale does take custody of the boy, we will need to make it a transparent trial to ensure there are no doubts about the honesty and integrity of the trail." The councilwoman said that to Jaune with a frown. "At this time we are not able to afford a long trial so close to the attack Mr. Arc."

Jaune nodded. "I understand. Thank you for at least considering the option."

The councilwoman Soek nodded to her aid. "Do you have thoughts of what you will do?"

Jaune looked around the table. "My only thought is to transfer him to Menagerie to stand trial among his peers."

A few councilmen scowled but remained quiet.

"He committed his crimes in Vale." grumbled one of the councilmen.

Jaune remembered _that_ guy being one of the people that kept asking him questions just after the invasion. Jaune did not have the patience to deal with him at the moment. Jaune opened his scroll and pulled up a list. He read aloud,

 _Reckless endangerment of the public._

 _Attempted assassination on a patrolman._

 _Conspiracy to assassinate a public figure._

 _Conspiracy to invade Vale._

Jaune still did not know his name. "Councilman. Three of those crimes end in just one way. This is not the full list either. These were the ones I had scrambled together in preparation for this meeting. There will be more." That quieted the grumbling man. "Vale itself is not in a position to provide trial. And given the severity of his crimes and the target of those crimes, I am not able to sentence him either. I don't think either group wants a patrolman to sentence 'execution' to a minor."

That statement killed any kind of discourse for the argument to send the child to Menagerie. Shortly there after the meeting was adjourned. Jaune felt relieved as the meeting ended. The sudden call was not some kind of new inquisition. Jaune wanted to cry in relief. The meeting stretched long, but he finally began to remember names.

Councilwoman Soek, the ship captain like man Councilman Phen, Council Julian all seemed to support him openly. _I guess the whole council really were trying to be neutral through it all._ Jaune admitted to himself. Most of the council seemed cautiously optimistic with his presence, but there were still a few hard liners who did not like a child being among them.

Jaune grimaced at the thought.

"Excuse me Mr. Arc."

Jaune turned as he made his way down the stairs to the entrance. "Yes?"

"I am just here to pass along a message. Councilman Velt would like to speak with you in private later this week."

Jaune frowned but nodded. "I can make myself available."

The man looked pleased and handed him a card. On the front was the name Velt Corp. When he flipped the card over, it had a time for Thursday late evening at Junior's. It was the request to meet him on the fourth floor that got his attention.

Jaune nodded slightly as he tucked it away. "I'll be there."

Jaune was not sure what to make of that when he made his way down the stone stairs and out of the building. He waved to his car. His mind was a jumble of thoughts on his way to the bullhead.

He didn't think one of the families would seek him out.

-o-

Jaune listened to June while he struggled to raise his arm through the jersey's arm hole now that the new bandages were in place.

"The hand will burn for another few days. But it's already healing. We'll do some more tests and therapy to make sure nothing is wrong with the hand. But there seems to be no tendon damage and none of the ligaments within the hand appear to need any attention. The gloves did their job. Thank goodness for small favors Jaune."

Jaune grimaced while his shoulders protested any kind of movement. He didn't think he could run yet either. Everything just screamed _No!_ and he felt no energy or strength in his legs or chest.

"Everything else will heal in time. Most of the scratches dug a few millimeters into the skin, but there was no infection. The one on the back was a little deeper. Don't try and lift anything for a while. And you will only have limited range on your right shoulder. If you feel your back is wet, immediately come back here. You might have torn the wound open. Truthfully, I'm happy to see that was the worst you got." June added cheerfully.

"Thank you. How has our guest been?"

"The boy's hand will be in a cast for six weeks but nothing more than that. He has not said a word. Has not drunk anything but some water and ate only a little food."

Jaune sobered immediately and closed his eyes to recenter himself. "Thanks June. Is he awake?"

"Barely slept since he got here. I gave him a light sedative to sleep so he's at least somewhat rested today. He was just as exhausted as you were yesterday."

Jaune nodded before he knocked on the door to announce himself. "Patrolman Arc." Jaune opened the door to see the teen. It was the first time he really looked at the kid. He must have been around fourteen. Only the splotches of darker skin on his cheeks would give a hint that he was a faunus. The cell was the same one he had held Miss Belladonna, only two chairs and a mattress sat in the room. The kid had dragged his chair to the window and seemed intent on pretending he was not in a cell.

"Good morning." Jaune greeted the kid. This felt different when he compared it to the meeting with Miss Belladonna. She had already received some goodwill before he interviewed her. This boy had none of that and then a broken wrist on top of it. And Watts confessed there was worse news waiting for the boy. "My name is Jaune Arc. May I have yours?"

The teen barely acknowledged him he just glanced at Jaune and looked away out the window. "Watt's said your name is Feltch. May I call you by that name?"

The teen looked up alarmed. He pulled away. With a hitched voice he asked, "How do you know that?"

"After your attack, he had hacked into the CCT to speak with me." The teen relaxed and turned away. Feltch was determined to ignore him. "The White Fang that attacked Vale are dead."

The kid looked up. The black rings under his eyes were more apparent when he stared back at the patrolman. He glared at Jaune as if the patrolman confessed that he butchered Feltch's people.

"How many, I am afraid we will never truly know."

The kid calmed for a moment before he lowered his head. "No one survived?"

"None that we know. It is unknown if the White Fang still exists. There have been no claims for the attack."

"You're a liar." Feltch turned away and looked out the window.

"What makes you think so?" Jaune asked. He set a chair in the center of the room, well away from Feltch's perch near the window.

"The White Fang is too strong to lose to some Vale security."

Jaune let that go. Instead he asked, "Feltch, why were you chosen to kill me?"

Feltch turned to Jaune. He proudly said, "Because I'm trustworthy."

Jaune had a sick feeling. "Enough to return to the White Fang after you killed me?"

Feltch nodded. "I wanted to prove to my parents that we were right. My parents had tried to leave the White Fang. I wanted to convince them."

Jaune frowned. "They did not take you?"

Feltch looked away and sniffed. "I was the one that turned them in. I thought I was doing the right thing." Feltch pulled his knees to his chest as he balanced on his chair. His head ducked behind his arms now that he remembered he had failed in his job. They were dead. "I thought I was doing what was right."

"What was your plan after you had killed me?"

Feltch snapped out of his thoughts at the morbid question. "Why do you want to know? You should be dead." The young teen glared at Jaune. "If you were dead, my family would have stayed alive."

Jaune nearly blinked at the accusation. The young teen looked back out the window. "Did you know how the grim were to attack the city?"

Feltch ignored him and looked out the window.

Jaune took out his scroll and found the picture Winter had given him of the black heart. "Have you seen this?"

Feltch did not bother to turn and look. "What is it?"

"It spawns grim." Jaune watched the boy as he his turned around. The image on the scroll was a black mass like a dried fruit. It was split open and showed signs of turning from black to grey after Miss Polendina had cut it in half. Jaune did not find a hint that Feltch knew what it was. Nothing. The boy looked disturbed at the idea. "But it can not do it alone. It needs a catalyst."

Feltch looked away from the picture. "Adam always said we needed to make the people fear us."

"Did you know what Watts did to get them to spawn?"

Again there was silence. The boy seemed willing to talk but had nothing to answer.

Jaune closed the scroll. "If the plan was to kill the people on the train, they would not have been enough for over sixty hearts."

Feltch glared at him. "Adam said his plan was perfect. We just had to arm the train with bombs and the people would be afraid. The grim would come."

Jaune frowned but let it go. The boy likely had no real valuable information. "You will hear this eventually. Member's of the White Fang were left in the train to act as suicide bait."

It definitely was not the full truth. Grim are attracted to fear and despair. It was more likely they were sacrificed. Wounded with a grim in the room. Enough to spawn more as the victims died. It was unfortunate that the bodies were so mutilated that the huntsmen could not get an accurate body count.

Jaune hated the council's decision to run with the story of suicide White Fang rather than they were being used by Watts. Yes the White Fang wanted to kill people, but they were pawns in a larger fight. The council was not comfortable giving any light to who orchestrated it without any real answers to questions a full disclosure would bring.

So much for transparency.

Jaune swallowed the bile as he suggested, "The trains would have been sent long before you tried to kill me. If your parents were on board, Watts never intended to spare them."

Feltch glared at him and spat. "Human. Stop lying. The White Fang is strong. The only reason they are dead is because I couldn't kill you."

Jaune gave the teen a moment to sniff and look away. "Did you know there was a second shooter when you tried to kill me?"

Feltch turned to glare at him then away. "Go fuck off. I don't want to hear any of this garbage."

Jaune stood up. "Very well. Just one thing before I go then. Did Adam Taurus let any more defectors escape?"

Feltch turned and glared at him. "Traitors are killed. No one survives."

Jaune nodded as he walked to the door never fully showing his back to the young man. Jaune rested his hand on the door knob and looked up to the ceiling. "Was there more than three hundred members of the White Fang?"

Feltch glared at him. "I'm not betraying-"

"That's about how many bodies were accounted for on the trains."

"That's how many people Watt's sacrificed in an attack that failed."

Feltch looked away and pulled his knees to his chest. "Shut up." His voice quivered.

Jaune let go of the handle and turned back to the kid. "I will go now, but don't get too comfortable, you will be moved out of here soon."

"To a cell?" Feltch muttered.

Jaune shook his head. "Not until you are sent to Menagerie."

Feltch looked up startled. "I'm not getting trailed by humans?"

Jaune huffed. "Vale has enough problems as it is without adding a faunus being trialed in a public display for his execution. The city is already too sensitive to negative emotions from the White Fang attack. And while I have already sentenced someone else for this case, I can not do the same to you."

Feltch looked up at the man to say something but stopped at the steady cold look the patrolman set on him. "I am too comprised to sentence you." The boy shivered at the glare from the patrolman. The patrolman's indifference at the start of the questions had been forgotten as the boy remembered what he tried to do to the man. "You will be sent to Menagerie for the attempted assassination of a patrolman and consipircy to instigate a grim invasion in a metropolitan city. Other charges will be up to the local government."

-o-

Jaune had spent most of his afternoon in the hospital wing of Beacon. He worked through speaking with a few survivors and some of their families. Jaune was irrationally nervous to meet them. The huntsmen knew the job and they all did the best they could, but Jaune felt he failed them in some way.

"Be gentle with that one Jaune." Jaune turned and found that June had been waiting for him to reach the next door.

"It was that bad?"

"Yeah. Sedated to keep calm. You'll know who it is when you walk in."

Jaune knocked.

"Come in." The girls' voice on the other side of the door sounded exhausted.

Jaune walked in to see familiar girl just play with her fingers. The blonde hair made him realize he had worked with her two days ago. Not many people in Vale were blonde. Jaune walked in and gave a soft sympathetic look. She was awake and alert. When she looked up she recognized him right away. "Mr. Arc."

"Liat." Jaune stood there and did hit best to recover hsi shock. It was one of the students. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay. Just in a little shock. I'm medicated up. I know it hasn't hit me yet. My sister is going to have me live with her for a bit." Lait's lip quivered for a second.

Jaune offered her his hand. She grasped it and her body shook. "It's hard you know?" Her eyes were red and she exhaled to try and steady her nerves. "The grim did a number on me. I just- Sal always said I was the resilient one. I wish he was wrong."

Jaune felt numb as he realized she was the lone survivor of her team. Jaune had not been aware there had been student casualties. Liat seemed to not have noticed his shock. She seemed content to keep her eyes closed.

Jaune remembered Team SLLT was one of the older groups among the seniors. They had done many field missions before and were one of the few teams that rotated where needed during the defense. The last time he had seen them all together was when they volunteered for the death crew.

Jaune took a chair and pulled it up to her side. His voice felt numb. "I wish there was more I could do for you. But this-" Jaune offered her a card, "is the best I can do right now. If you need to talk."

"Thank you Mr. Arc. The hospital offered counselling. I think I'll take them up on that offer-" Her body shook slightly and she resisted the urge to slam her head against her bed pillow. "-when the jitters from that grim finally clear out of my system. I am not quite sure what it will feel like for everything to really hit."

Jaune squeezed her hand and let go. "I am sorry there was nothing else I could do for your team."

Liat forced a weak and tired smile. Her face was covered in a cold sweat and she looked exhausted with heavy bags under her eyes. She looked years older than a third year should. But the medicine had done a fine job at calming her. Jaune stood up and put away the chair but he returned to her side. "For what it's worth Miss Comey, Team Sleet did an amazing job out there. I was proud of all of you for shouldering the hardest assignment."

Liat teared and nodded. "Thank you Mr. Arc." Her voice broke as she tried to say that. It seemed that was all it took. She started to weep. Jaune walked up closer and offered her his arm. She leaned into his shoulder and wept. "We tried hard ya know? Sal said you would be impressed. He said we could probably take point on the next forest sweep. It's so stupid." Lait squeezed Jaune's arm and her body shook in silent sobs. It was nearly another seven minutes before she fell asleep. Jaune nodded to June who came in shortly in the middle of Liat's bout of grief.

June guided him to help lay her down and she corrected the students posture so she would sleep more comfortably.

Jaune left the room subdued. He was almost afraid of how many people like her will blame him after they recovered.

"Why wasn't I informed?" Jaune asked quietly.

June looked away. "We only confirmed the team was wiped out last night. We were holding out hope one of the other hospitals took in at least one of the other members, but the girl was sure her team was killed. I'm sorry Jaune. You were already in the door when I realized you didn't know."

Jaune nodded and blinked. He had passed by them on his way into Vale the day of the invasion. They had waved and he only registered he had not thought to greet them back until it was too late. His head was just focusing on the impending conference.

Jaune thanked the doctor for looking after her and left Beacon to move on to the hospitals in Vale. He spoke to nearly a dozen injured. _These were the lucky ones_. He lamented. They were injured towards the end of the defense. Anyone before then… Well, if they had to be pulled back, they were already on their deathbed. Not many that were sent it to the hospitals lived to arrive.

Jaune had his own very first taste of working with a death crew during the defense. He had not even thought about making one during the initial defense. But someone thankfully remembered. Liat's team had volunteered. They did not know exactly what to do, but they had the stamina still after several hours to help.

Sleet's job had been to clear the dead from the field. The dead would only strengthen the grim and seeing their comrades bodies would lower morale. It was something that would further feed into the grim. Liat's team was unfortunate that a grim had mutated in a group of huntsmen that died. Liat had only stalled long enough for two teams to collapse on the beast but she was the lone survivor.

Liat was resilient, regardless of the medication. After the number of dead she had to handle last night, she had to have been.

-o-

Jaune knocked on the door of a more familiar room. He honestly did not know what to say to Miss Belladonna. He felt he owed her more information than what the council released. When the door opened he did not worry about it. Instead, he gave the girl a sad look. "Good evening Miss Belladonna. May I come in?"

Blake sniffed amid red eyes and streaks of tears. She nodded. Her bow was absent and she was in the Beacon sweatpants and t-shirt she had worn for the last few days. "Mr. Arc. It is good to see you are alright."

Jaune waved off the courtesy. "Thank you Miss Belladonna. I wish I came with better news."

Blake nodded. "I heard." She gestured to the news that was currently running on the screen. She sat down uselessly on the couch in front of the video screen. "Do we know if the White Fang said anything after the attack?"

Jaune followed her and looked around the room. "No. Based on what my contact in Atlas said, they would have made a claim by now."

"They would have." Blake leaned forward and covered her face with her hands. "What am I supposed to do?"

Jaune watched her. He looked around and grabbed a chair from the table only to pull it across from her with a loud wooden scraping sound. Blake focused on him when he blocked her view of the screen. "In the short term, nothing has really changed for you. As to the White Fang, we do not have a way to confirm the identity for any of the people that were slain in the train carts. The carts themselves were too heavily destroyed to give us any information after the initial contact made by one of the defenders."

Blake looked confused, "But they should have had something on them… the masks were… they are tags. I could try…"

Jaune watched as she valiantly tried to volunteer to help and ultimately fail. "Most of the debris from the original train carts are beyond recognition now. Blake," the girl sniffed. "I would not ask anything else from you. You helped save Vale. Your warning ensured Vale survive that day. I am very grateful for your help. Make most of the time you have here. We will have a better idea of the status of the White Fang in the coming months."

Blake looked at the man and nodded. "Is there word on the other guy?" There was a fear in her voice. Both eager and afraid for the answer.

"None. He spoke briefly with me over the CCT. He matches your description. Unfortunately we have to assume they pulled back now that they had attacked. The invasion hurt the White Fang."

Blake swallowed "The way Adam and the man acted, I am not sure that they cared what happened to the White Fang. I had a lot of friends there..."

"I can't offer you any hope I'm afraid. I spoke to the man that night just prior to the attack. He had hacked our systems. The man knew where you were."

Blake jaw tensed at the news. "Will I be moved?"

Jaune rubbed his chin. He only briefly spoke with Ozpin. But they were both afraid transporting Miss Belladonna would really turn into another death like the huntsmen that help with Ambers sting.

"No." Jaune said aloud. "You will remain in Beacon. After probation I would encourage you stay for the entire education. If you had desired to leave Beacon when your time was up, we would not have stopped you. Now that someone who was instrumental in the death of the White Fang members knows you by name. You would be safer here within Beacon."

Blake nodded as she touched her ribbon. "I.. he killed them all. Didn't he?"

Jaune watched the myriad of faces the girl went through from horror to pain and grief. If he was not paying attention, he would have thought she meant Watts. Jaune felt he knew her better than that from the past few weeks. "It is unknown who led the actual train. It had to be done manually to respond to the train yards commands. We know there were at least three White Fang members that were alive by the end of the night. Plus one in custody."

Blake's eyes had run dry as he spoke. She just felt tired. "There were two trains. One conductor each."

Jaune agreed. "And a third in town that was the second shooter."

"They didn't say someone was assassinated." Blake looked at the news screen.

"I had someone back me up or I would have died." Did that ever taste odd in his mouth when he said that. He had always associated Neo as his potential reluctant killer. It was just world altering to think of her as his savior. Jaune stood up and put back the chair. Blake stood up when she realized he needed to move on.

"Thank you for your help Mr. Arc. For everything." Blake looked down. The ears on the top of her head leaned forward to match her dower expression.

Jaune knew there was not much he could do to console her. "Mourn your friends Blake. Don't forget them, but don't drown in their memory. And start looking forward. Find something you can focus on here in Beacon. This place is your sentence. But it doesn't have to be your prison."

Jaune gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder before he walked out the door.

-o-

Jaune felt like this day would never end. He had already felt exhausted before he even left to the medical wing to get rebandaged that morning. The subsequent meetings with survivors and Miss Belladonna had drained him further. But he needed to meet with these two students. It was his job and he only missed yesterday because of a grim invasion and his boss told him to catch up on some sleep.

"Miss Xiao Long, Miss Rose, it is Patrolman Arc." Jaune announced as he knocked on the private room door. There was a half a beat of silence followed by two thuds and a 'oof'.

The door opened to reveal a dark red haired girl look at him. Her nervous shuffle and the look over her shoulder made Jaune curious what she had been doing but ignored it. "Good evening Miss Rose. I have just come to check up on you and your sister. Do you have a moment?"

Ruby opened the door further to allow him in. "Yeah, I'll go get Yang."

Jaune watched her go and walked just inside the door and closed it behind him. Bags were packed at the door and readied to be moved to the dorms after initiation in two days. They would be camping in the dining hall tomorrow.

"Hello sir." Yang waved. She looked a little tired but recovered.

"Good evening Miss Xiao Long. How are you feeling?"

Yang held one arm across her chest in a long stretch. "Good but stiff. I should be asking you if you are OK." She pointed at the bandages that peaked out of his clothing along his forearms and neck.

"Ah," Jaune rubbed his neck. He actually forgot he was still wearing them. "It's been a weekend."

"That's one way to put it." Yang muttered. "Come in. Will this interview take long?"

Jaune took a seat across from Miss Xiao Long and her sister at the dining room table. "Only as long as needed. I know the medical wing has been busy, but have you stopped by to visit June?"

Yang nodded. "She called me to come see her when she thought I wouldn't show." Yang had the awareness to blush. "I was not sure if she could see me with everything that had happened. I'm kinda surprised we are still here to be honest." Yang looked to her sister with a meaningful glance. Ruby had taken to sit silently and listen. She played her finger across the table and let the two older people speak.

"And you Miss Rose?"

Ruby looked up under her dark hair and mumbled, "Wha?

Jaune did his best to give the girl a disarming smile. "Yang mentioned she was surprised to be here. Do you feel the same?"

Any energy Ruby had deflated. "Yeah. I mean, I'm only here because I had to be. I don't think I really earned the right to be here. I just was stupid and got put into a school a few years earlier than I should be. What could go wrong?" The self deprecating tone made Yang wilt.

They both knew that third years and second years were called to fight. Had there been first years on campus, they would have likely stayed to defend beacon and the second years would have been fielded with the third years. Jaune was not sure how he felt about that thought now that he realized it.

"Friday night was the first grim invasion in over a hundred years and the first real draft close to Vale in the last sixty. It took a terrorist organization all their resources and their lives to attempt and it failed. It was an all or nothing attack Miss Rose. It will be unlikely that we will see something like that again."

Ruby looked anxiously around the room unwilling to meet the Patrolman's eyes. She glanced over to him. She nearly eeped as she found her eyes locked with is. "But that's not completely true. The news cast said that the White Fang were on a suicide mission to draw grim. But if that were true, there wouldn't have been so many grim. The people that died on the train must have been…" Ruby hugged herself. Yang moved an arm around her sister's shoulder. "You can't draw grim without fear." Ruby shuddered and hugged her arms. "They must have been so afraid. The next time doesn't have to be them, it could just be people off the street…" Ruby shuddered.

Jaune resisted the urge to pat the girl on the back and looked over to the older sister. She had her eyes closed and just walked up from behind to hug Ruby. She seemed to understand it as well. "I wish I could have spared you that understanding Miss Rose. But you are right. Believe me, we know what could happen next." Thankfully the council understood as well. Hopefully that would mean they would take steps to prevent anything like that in the future.

"I don't think I'm ready to do that yet." Ruby admitted.

"And Beacon does not expect you to be ready. It is why you are here. You will learn. You are smart Miss Rose. Have a little more confidence. If you are already thinking about the next attack, you are more capable than you think you are." Jaune stood up. "When you are both ready, make sure you do not leave anything behind when you pack up. At the end of the week, I will be calling you both to my office to check on you."

"Right, when I'm ready." Ruby muttered and slumped in her chair. Yang stood up and started to walk the patrolman out.

"I've seen the video recording of the fight at the club." Jaune reminded her. Ruby stood up and did her best to not cross her arms at the reminder. "If you are able to move like that, you are already prepared for the training. And your mind is sharp enough to pick up things huntsmen _should_ be looking for. The only thing you are probably lagging behind is your general knowledge. And you will have your team to support you through that. You are ready where it counts Miss Rose."

Ruby nodded slowly but did not look up to meet his gaze. "Thanks." She mumble quietly.

Jaune gave his sister a concerned look but she simply shrugged. "Good evening to you both. I'll see you both out there at initiation."

-o-

Jaune wanted to sit down and almost forgot to not lean back into his couch after his shower. His everywhere still hurt and he gingerly moved his body around several localized bandages. Most of the scratches had long since stopped bleeding but there were a few that were still too exposed. He no longer needed the obnoxious bandages that wrapped around his chest and torso. But that led to the problem on his back. An oversight he only realized now that he had showered.

The door opened to his apartment without so much as a knock. Coco walked in with a bag and a blue and gold summer dress. A wide brimmed summer hat was under her arm as she spun to announce herself, "Evening stableboy." She teased as she walked in and set her hat on the dining room table.

"Hi beautiful."

Coco scoffed before she leaned in with a chaste kiss, "You say that to all the girls that bring you bandages and extra hands to lay on you."

Jaune laughed and flinched at the same time. "Back first, then laugh. Please."

Coco had seen most of the bandages when they were still seeping through the gauze but it still startled her to see a wound. They were rare in her field. You either healed and walked it off, or you died. Coco laid a gentle hand around the large open cut from some kind of claw that sliced across the back and towards the ribs at an awkward angle. She figured Jaune had likely dodged to avoid a fatal injury, but not enough to dodge this strange looking cut that went across his back then up towards his ribs then across the back towards the spine. It took her two squares with a fine coating of the gel she was given from the doctor to tape the wound covered. Jaune groaned as she ran a finger across the edge of the squares.

"All done Jaune."

Jaune hummed an appreciative tone. "Thank you. Thank god that today was over."

Jaune took a seat on the couch. Coco followed and pulled his good arm around her shoulders. "You missed all the fun today." Coco yawned.

The evening had not been that late, but she had been busy with several teams who had decided to all go together into town. Coco loved the idea to be among friends. The second years had bonded over their defense in Beacon and she shared all the stories she spied while they were out.

Jaune listened with a tinge of envy, but also with a pang of apprehension. Coco wanted him to go be there with her. It felt so divorced from his reality that he had a hard time picturing it. Every time he looked at her smile and heard her speak next to his ear, he felt one more muscle relax. Still, there was one knot that refused to do so. The one in his stomach when he realized it was times like these he felt he barely knew Coco.

-o-

Jaune felt almost normal as he walked into Ozpin's office early monday morning. The pain was still there, but he finally wasn't just tired all the time. "Good morning Sir." Jaune greeted his boss. "Glynda."

Ozpin tilted his head and glanced up to Glynda.

The professor adjusted her glasses and looked at her scroll. "I'll make sure the students are set up for tonight. The platforms have been checked for tomorrow and the third years had already curated the forest. Tonight's greeting starts at five in the evening. If you got anything to do, make sure you are back by then Jaune."

The patrolman blinked, he had not realized she was talking to him. He awkwardly agreed. "I will, thank you for reminding me."

The woman nodded at him before she started to walk to the elevator. Ozpin and Jaune remained silent until the elevator closed behind her. "Five months and I still can't get a read on her." Jaune muttered.

"She had been exasperated with the extra work."

Jaune plopped onto his seat and sighed at his boss. "And I had to hear that from her didn't I?"

Ozpin pulled up a scroll. "It's best that colleagues learn to communicate now than go through a middleman."

Jaune shook his head and propped his head to the side with his hand. His elbow firmly pressed against the armrest. "You called this meeting."

Ozpin frowned as he closed his console screen. "We have a tough year ahead of us..."

-o-

Jaune stood at attention next to Glynda on the dias. He was still surprised the woman all but demanded he be apart of this. Jaune had not thought he would interact with the freshmen much at all. Glynda herself along with Peter and Barty all but ran the freshmen classes. He had a sinking suspicion that she wanted to introduce the freshmen to him as early as possible less he be confused for a student, or an exchange student later in the year. It was something he probably should have thought about as well. For as much as it irked him to be questioned and doubted for his age, he rarely ever considered how others see him. It was a blind spot he was very reluctant to delve into. Self reflection was like that.

Jaune looked around and focused on the students who walked in. He knew it should not be such a big shift in gears to think only about the goings on in the school. He had somehow manage to juggle it all through the investigation. Unfortunately, the meeting with Ozpin only brought to light how much work he still had to do at Beacon. Work that would only increase as the year goes on.

"Greetings." Ozpin said into the microphone. His voice echoed across the ballroom. "You have chosen to come to Beacon to become huntsmen. Because you want to be heroes and help your people and your home. But it is Beacon and Vale that need you." The initiates were silent as the headmaster spoke. Jaune watched as the older man looked around the ballroom. "This year's initiates are the smallest group Beacon has seen in the last ten years. That is because initiates like you were reminded of the reality of what huntsmen must do to protect the people. No doubt many of you have seen the videos."

Jaune resisted the urge to sigh at that. The videos spread like wildfire into the city within the day of the defense. Apparently Ozpin had his hands full with families who found out their loved ones died through the recordings before any word was officially handed to them. But it also had an effect on the initiates.

"I do not bring this up lighty to scorn those who had dropped out. But to emphasis the need we have of you all."

Jaune looked around the room. Roughly, a third of the students that applied to Beacon had appeared. What should have been a group of initiates close to a hundred and twenty, was closer to fifty. And further those who attempted the initiation to fail…

It would be the smallest class since the opening of the school.

"Look around you now. Though you have the courage, not all of you may make it through initiation. Remember these faces that may not be here by the end of the week. They had been willing to step forward when others were not able. Welcome to Beacon for however long your stay. For initiates, you have the capacity to become great huntsmen regardless of your current skill. If you fail, apply again. I look forward to see you all in my halls."

There was a round of applause from the somber message before the initiates broke away to find their temporary lodgings on the floor for the night.

-o-

Jaune stopped walking and gave a relieved exhale at the mass of white uniforms. It took less effort to find her than he had expected. Jaune had only found out that morning that Winter Schnee had taken to lodging at Beacon during her stay rather than the city. It made sense if she had to keep in contact with Beacon and Atlas thanks to the CCT. The First Lieutenant spotted Jaune quickly. She rose from her seat to stand, her little shadow stood up quickly at her sister's cue.

Winter greeted Jaune warmly, "Good morning Jaune. Do you have time to join us?" Winter gestured to the small table that still had two empty seats.

"Thank you Winter." Jaune looked over to the guard who stood at attention at Winter's side. "Excuse me, are you Miss Poledina?"

The girl turned to Winter, her commanding officer, who gave a gentle nod to answer. "Yes sir, Private First Class Penny Polendina." The girls' ginger bob bounced up then down at her salute.

Jaune looked happy to have guessed it. "Thank you for your help during the defense Private. You saved Vale with your hard work. I wish I had something I am able to award you for the service, but it is out of my abilities to personally do so."

The girl's standoffish nature relaxed and she lowered her salute hand. "Thank you sir. Those words are praise enough"

"This was the Private's first field deployment. Although General Ironwood was alarmed she had to be tested this way."

Jaune nodded before he turned to the sister. He gave her a slight bow. "Hello Miss Schnee."

"It's Weiss Schnee sir." The girl said. She looked back and forth between her sister and the patrolman.

Jaune resisted the tug at the corner of his lips. The haughty girl looked uncomfortable with him speaking to her sister as equals. "How was the sleepover in the ballroom?" Jaune teased. The girl blushed just as she turned to look at him.

"It was different. I have not slept in the same room with boys before, or next to so many people, or on the floor…"

"It would do her well to remember that she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. She knows she is privileged. Just not to what degree. Hopefully she will make a few friends that will teach her." Winter added. Weiss seemed to sink in her chair.

Jaune smiled and offered, "You will have to try. I can't imagine someone not getting along with three other teammates for three years." Jaune held out his hand to receive the tea dish. He stared at the amber contents of his cup and simply sipped it. Different than what he was used to. It was the kind that needed milk rather than honey.

"I am sure I will be able to handle any difficulties that arise." Weiss returned with some confidence back in her voice.

Jaune did not say anything to that. But he did catch a glance of Winter who just repressed a long suffering look. Jaune took a moment to sip his tea then reminded the young lady. "Miss Schnee, I believe it is close to the time where you need to prepare for initiation."

The girl was distracted by her tea and looked up at the time. "Excuse me Winter! I have got to go. Good day to you Mr. Arc."

Jaune set his cup down now fully emptied and looked over to the wait staff. A gentleman in a suit walked up and refilled his tea. When the man backed away Jaune apologized. "I'm sorry for cutting your visit with your sister short Winter."

"It is fine. I love her dearly, but she needs to keep an open mind. I had difficulties myself when I joined Atlas Academy."

Jaune nodded in understanding. "Is it safe to talk in present company?"

Winter nodded, "I would have excused us, rather than let my sister go, had it not been. Is this about the grim attack?"

"Yes. I haven't received the report from Vale. It seems since I no longer have emergency powers, the council has been reluctant to call on me to complete the investigation. They had tried to gain a stronger hold on my rights almost immediately after the invasion. That included the contracts for future cases."

"I take it that did not play out the way they wanted."

Jaune looked relieved as he recalled, "According to my old councilman from when I lived in Anvil, Ozpin was livid. The headmaster had said Beacon would offer no further help unless it is through myself with the current contract."

"Is that why the huntsmen are leaving the investigation to the police?"

"This is the first I've heard of it. If that's the case then that means that the council ignored my warning about the black hearts. And this show of bad faith would not help right after the crisis. I know huntsmen and police do not mix well together but this feels like something else. And it leaves me out of the loop. If the Council wants to keep it close to the chest that's fine. What isn't fine is the lack of information about the source of the grim. That is something the police are not equipped to even investigate. My old councilman said it was more out of spite than anything else."

"Would you like some Atlas intervention?" Winter offered but frowned. She could not go behind Atlas and Vale's back in this.

"Not for me. Keep me out of the loop if you have too, but someone needs to be on the investigation team that knows what to look for."

Winter took another sip of her tea. "I will be in town for the remainder of the week while our engineers finish going through the droids. I can offer to move things along. They may not turn us away as Private Polendina was the one that eradicated the source."

Jaune looked relieved. "Thank you Winter. I should go soon too. I have observation teams to mobilize before I am to meet Ozpin when he launches the initiates."

Winter 's relaxed eyes focused on him as he stood up. Jaune had pushed in his chair when Winter spoke again. "While any _new_ information may not be available to pass along. I can send you all the records we recorded during the invasion. "

"Thank you." Jaune said gratefully.

-o-

Ruby would have been annoyed with her sister if she did not know Yang so well. Yang was putting on an optimistic grin for her. Her sister _knew_ that worked every time. What's worse, Yang always got smug when it did work. _Ug._ she whimpered to herself.

Ruby sighed and resisted the urge to smile back to Yang. _Everything will be ok._ Ruby thought to herself. She could do this. The line going up the hill made her chest flooded with an aching anxiety that made her nauseous.

Yang had been on a warpath last night to try and piece together what the initiation would be. The best she could understand was to just survive running through the emerald forest. Just survive some grim. If Ruby could focus on that she would be fine.

Ruby listened the instructions from the blonde woman who directed the students up the cliff side. When she saw the view of the forest below her she audibly gulped. She saw the Headmaster but no sign of the patrolman. Headmaster Ozpin seemed content to drink whatever was in his cup and read his scroll.

"Let's find a pad Ruby." Yang patted her back. The suddenness of the push nearly made her 'eep' aloud.

"Don't do that. I'm already tense as it is." Ruby growled as she banged her fists on her sister's back. Ruby found a square plate to stand on. She looked back to the professors one last time. It was still just the two of them. _Mr. Arc isn't coming._ She did not realize how much that small bit of encouragement helped her.

Ruby felt she could use a little more of that right now.

"You don't have to look that terrified. It's not an execution."

Ruby did "Eep!" at the sudden voice of the teen next to her.

The teenaged boy laughed. "Or maybe it is? Don't be so afraid, scaredy cat. It's just a two hundred foot drop off a cliff. And look! Launch pads!" The tanned teen tapped the metal plate with his shoes with an audible clang. "That's an extra hundred foot fall with some speed to go along with it. Right into a forest with unknown grim." The black haired teen shaded his eyes and leaned forward. "All alone with no help from your friends."

Ruby stilled her heart after the initial shock but her eyes glared as he kept talking. "That's not funny. You jerk."

The black haired boy tilted his head in an apology and looked past Ruby to her sister. "That one must be a handful."

Yang laughed. "You have no idea Asan."

Ruby rounded and glared at her sister. "You set me up!"

Asan laughed. "That's better. Angry is better than being afraid."

Ruby stopped whatever she was going to say and took turns looking back and forth between her sister and the jerk. Eventually she huffed and looked away from both of them.

-o-

Jaune waited as the three third year teams went over their equipment. They were the fastest scouting teams during the forest sweep and that extra knowledge would help them today. It would be the first year that Ozpin could confidently say that no students would be accidentally disqualified because an observer interfered by mistakes during the exams.

"You have your assignments. Observe and communicate when you see stragglers. Volunteer responsibility when you find one. Don't just wait for someone else to volunteer."

"Yes sir!" The group shouted in unison. Jaune resisted the urge to step back at the loud reply. He had an inkling that he had earned some kind of respect from the third years after the defense. But this group was the first real interaction he had with any number of the student defenders. The absolute respect they showed him still gave him pause.

Jaune did his best public smile. "See you all after the initiation. Speak to the camera if you got a question, the headmaster and I will answer any questions you have."

Each student checked their camera one more time before they all ran into the forest and disappeared among the foliage. The launch pads would easily send initiates half a mile into the forest. The third years would have plenty of time to get into position.

Jaune ran the long way around the path at the base of the hill. He heard the PA announcement that all initiates were to report to the cliffs. That was his cue to get up to the top. Ozpin greeted him with a hot mug of coffee in hand. Jaune honestly wondered if the man kept it hot with aura. The headmaster and Glynda had to have been up here for a while.

"The third years are in the forest and ready."

"Thank you Mr. Arc. I already have several links acquired and on standby. It's a small batch of students this year." Ozpin thought aloud. The concern in his voice was a rare in all the times Jaune had spoken with him.

Jaune looked around as the students filtered up the mountain. Fifty plus initiates walked up the path. Jaune noted the eager ones, the nervous ones and then the ones that had a level of confidence. Then there was Miss Ruby Rose. She was the shortest of the mass of perspective students. Already short for her own age group, she was like a dip in a line of students that filed along Glynda's orders to pick a metal plate to stand on.

Jaune stood at attention as the students took a pad and waited. A few of them looked at him curiously. Ozpin had said that it was normal for about a quarter to fail the entrance exam. The third years had taken to thin the forest but there would still be enough grim to give the ambitious students a chance to prove themselves.

The ones that came less prepared would get injured but rarely would any of them get seriously injured with their aura. But that was in part because how the initiation was formatted. Students actively sought each other out. Even if there was a single student that could not find a partner on their own, there were enough people in the forest to start to congregate together. The sheer number of people in the forest would deter most grim that would fight with inferior numbers.

In the worst case scenario, the cameramen would interfere. The initiates would get an automatic disqualification if a third year had to interfere. But if a third year had to interfere, the applicant was just not ready.

Glynda instructed the student to stand on an individual metal square. Jaune spied his three little convicts. Blake had just walked up the path and he stepped away from the headmaster. Blake Belladonna followed a few meters away to gain some bit of privacy.

Blake extended her wrists. She had a guilty look when ever she asked to have her cuffs unlocked. Jaune wondered how long she would carry that with her.

Jaune gave her a silent nod as he slid his fingers across the locks on her bracelets with his key. The two cuffs opened and he pocketed them on his belt. "I'll see you after you have completed initiation to put them back on. How are you feeling about your hand-to-hand now that you had some time with it?"

Blake looked at her bare wrists and rubbed them slightly. It's only been a few weeks but she was somehow developing faint tan lines from them. "Ok Mr. Arc. Velvet has been good with making time for me."

Jaune frowned. He was honest enough with situation that he had worried. "I am sorry I had not been out there to help you with that. It must have been hard with no aura."

Blake shook her head and nearly laughed at the absurdity "Sir. You were doing something I feel was far more important."

"Have you given any thoughts about..?" His eyes looked to the top of her head. Her bow still sat proudly on the crown of her head.

Jaune could actually see the outline of her faunus ears as they closed against her skull. The bow twinged downward just slightly.

Blake's eyebrows furrowed a the thought but she sighed. "I could. It's just… People would judge me before they even knew me."

That! Jaune could sympathise with. He leaned forward slightly and whispered. "Better make a decision soon. You form your teams with this. Better to know what people think before you become their partners. You can't change those." He gave as a warning.

Jaune walked back to the professors and waited for the initiation to start.

"Good morning Initiates. Below you is the Emerald Forest. You have been tasked to retrieve a relic from the center of the forest and return back to us here by sundown. A few of you may have heard a few things about partners. You will be pleased to know that you will find your partner's down in the forest. The first person you see will be your partner for the rest of your stay in Beacon. Any who are unable to complete the task or make it back to the cliffs failed the initiation. Be aware that the forest is littered with grim. Be cautious. Be safe. And happy hunting."

Ozpin turned to Glynda with a nod. The furthest launch pads fired away. Jaune spotted Blake still picking at her clothes. He only just now noticed she had changed her clothes. She had lost the black and white sweatpants and sweatshirt for a white and black top and a pair of black women tights that's stopped mid thigh.

Jaune held his hands behind his back at attention when the second pad launched into the air.

Blake's bow twitched. Jaune nearly smiled when she slowly and deliberately removed the ribbon and started to wrap it around her wrist. She looked timidly around her and only felt better when no one even noticed she took off the bow. Jaune allowed himself to feel good about the small victory. It was too bad Blake didn't turn to see his encouraging look.

It must have been hard for her. He vowed to check on her a little earlier than the end of the week to see how she is settling.

Miss Rose looked better this morning. She giggled at something her friend had said. A sallow young man with a large lance in hand. He seemed to quietly reply to a question she had. Jaune spied Miss Xai-long stretch and place a pair of aviator glasses on. Apparently someone leaked to her what the exam was if she went and bought those. It was the kind of pair a bullhead pilot would wear in a movie.

Miss Xao-long raised her shades and winked at him before she turned back and took a ready position. Jaune just watched as they were all launched into the air. Once the last one was out of sight Jaune crossed his arms and exhaled heavily through his nose. "How many teams do you think will form from this?"

Ozpin frowned at the number of unused launch pads. There was a time where he would have them all manned with one or two people in line to follow the first group. "Not enough. It's a sad truth, but the number of huntsmen who apply to Beacon are shrinking by the year. This invasion gave us an artificial drop as well."

"We also lost Amber who had been doing the outreach program." Glynda reminded the two. Ozpin simply stared at his monitoring scroll.

"Had Amber brought that many students to Beacon?"

"Not from her most recent visits, but she brought the name of Beacon to every settlement. Settlement students come in generations. We will see five or six from a single settlement in one year and see nothing again for another ten. Amber had an effect but her work will not be felt for a few more years."

"It looks like they are landing." Jaune observed from his own scroll. He switched camera views and alternated between his group of girls. "Any one we should look out for Glynda?"

The woman looked up and shook her head. "Of the crop of students who appeared, there were no real stand outs with the exception of Miss Nikos. She is a Mistral champion who decided to attend Beacon."

Jaune frowned as he switched cameras until he found the girl. "Ah. The Pumpkin Pete's girl."

Glynda nearly raised a curved lip. "Really Jaune?"

Jaune said matter of factly. "Her face was on half the boxes when I was attempting to get that hoodie. I just didn't know her name. It always just said champion on the box. Looks more like a gladiator than a huntsmen from this." He watched as the initiate spun her rifle and it changed quickly to a short spear. She thrust it quickly to stab a grim before she batted it away with her shield hand. Her boot raised as she already used the disappearing grim as leverage to get into the air and clear the mass to move onto the next one.

"She spent most of her time fighting people. She has the ability but she has little experience fighting grim." Glynda muttered.

"So she may not be a team player?" Ozpin asked as he switched to another screen to look at the other initiates.

"She is willing. From her interview, she was looking forward to some anonymity."

Jaune hummed. "Looks like she found her partner." The tanned young man was as tall as she was with what looked like a lance and nothing else.

"Asan Satya. He's from Signal Academy." Glynda supplied before she moved on to look for others that had not found partners.

Jaune did the same. He finally stopped on the one person he was curious about. The girl's neatly tied silver hair whipped back and forth as she dodged a pair of grim with her rapier. She glared and turned to stare at her partner. The camera followed and Jaune frowned at the cautious look of Ruby Rose try and mutter an apology.

" _Sorry! I just tried to help!"_

Jaune watched as the polite girl he met that morning glowered at her new partner. He shook his head. "Winter would be disappointed."

Ozpin switched to the correct camera. "Weiss Schnee. Ruby Rose. Why is that Jaune?"

"I just spoke with Winter this morning. She advised her sister to keep an open mind."

" _I don't care if you are trying to help! You nearly got hit by my attack. Watch where you are going! I can't believe I'm stuck with you!"_

Jaune watched as whoever was the observer waited until they were out of range before they said, " _Yeesh princess. Bitchy much?"_

Jaune sighed before he pressed the com button. "We can hear you Blanche. That means they could probably hear you. Don't disqualify them by accident." There was a round of swearing.

"I'm sorry sir! It won't happen again! I'll just follow my duty." The camera blurred as she started to move around to follow the two girls.

When the camera could suddenly hear Weiss berate her partner. Jaune rubbed his temple. "Winter had said her sister was good willed just very selfish." He said in direction to Ozpin's curious look. "I underestimated what Winter meant when she said Weiss was raised with a silver spoon in her mouth."

"They can make mistakes Jaune. They are still children." Ozpin said quietly as he moved a camera to another pair of students.

Jaune's eyes softened at the reminder before he abruptly switched channels. In the quiet lapse of the initiation, Jaune wondered what Coco saw when she looked at him.

-o-

Blake wished with all that was mighty that _this_ was not her team. She knew this was her team the moment the professors paired them off into groups of four and led them down the mountain path. The sisters were fine. The fact that one of them is years younger than all of them was perfectly acceptable. Blake gave a cautious look to the angry Weiss Schnee. A Schnee in her group. _With my ears on full display_. Blake thought in full morose. Judging by the glare the white haired girl leveled at them all, Blake was not sure if she should try and confront the girl about her attitude or not. She was still a prisoner and she did not want to rock the boat as it were.

"Miss Belladonna, a word please?"

Blake was saved from any words on her lips to the Schnee and turned to walk towards her parole officer. "Hello Mr. Arc."

Jaune gave the girl a small smile. "I saw you during the initiation. You did well." Jaune paused as he remembered Glynda's last name. "Professor Goodwitch was impressed. Your hands?"

Blake released a relieved sigh. "That's good to hear sir." She extended her wrists and the bracelets went back on. Once they were latched she played with them for a bit to get them comfortable. "I'm not sure how this will work given my current team."

Jaune looked over the girl's shoulder to see her team. "I had seen who you were grouped together with." Blake did not catch the look he leveled at Weiss Schnee, but Blake heard a gasp from the girl. Blake looked back and noticed that the angry girl looked down at her feet and was blissfully quiet. Blake gave an audible, "Huh," before she looked back to Mr. Arc.

Mr. Arc patted her shoulder and gently pushed her around to face her team. Far louder than when he had spoken to her he said, "Any time Miss Belladonna. I know those are important. Just let me know if you want me to hold them for safe keeping again. Best get in line for your teams introduction."

Blake blinked owlishly at her team before she looked over her shoulder to Mr. Arc. "I will. Thank you sir."

Jaune spared a glance to all four girls and turned to walk out of the hall. _What were the odds all four of them would be together? Probably better this year considering…_

-o-

Mr. Arc closed the security case with the recording equipment. "Thank you for your help. Team's are dismissed. The ceremony should be starting soon to name the teams. Then dinner."

Blanche sighed as her teammates cheered. The group said their goodbyes to Mr. Arc and quickly made their way to the auditorium. The freshmen announcements were a highlight last year. Team Brick had front row seats during the initiation thanks to Mr. Arc. She was ecstatic that he picked her team to be apart of the observation unit. She wasn't the only one as Ivory pushed their teammates forward quickly. Team Brick were eager to see the highlight reel for the teams. There were quite a few creative initiates this year.

The auditorium was massive and made to house hundreds of huntsmen in case of emergencies. It sat unused in the last invasion thanks in part to the fore planning from Mr. Arc. Blanche's mind boggled at how quick the response was from him and the adult huntsmen at the first sign of an attack.

During the invasion, Blanche was horrified the first time he disappeared into the darkness without warning only to come back with a horde of grim. Blanche shuddered at the memory. His calls and warnings saved her team multiple times when her leader shouted change in tactics.

Mr. Arc checked on her team the first few times before he jumped back out of the safety of the walls. His bloody chest and back was an image that burned in her mind. It was rare to see any huntsmen bleed, and to see his whole body covered in grim ash and blood without the least bit of concern… Blanche knew it would stay with her for the rest of her life. It placed Mr. Arc in the seats of heroes to her team. She knew she was not the only one.

Blanche looked around. The third years sat on the highest rows of seats. It was by far the largest class in some years. Thirty seven teams. Only nine people failed to pass the exam in her year. Blanche nearly laughed when she remembered they had to push the ceremony to the next day with how many people passed.

The last year was better with seventeen teams. That was apparently more of a normal number. The students quieted as the names were listed off for the various teams. Blanche was waiting for the surprise at the end as soon as she saw that the fourth team was named.

 _Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xaio-long. You have collected the black rook pieces. From today onward you will work together as Team Ruby. Led by Ruby Rose._ The screen overhead showed RubyRose's portrait with the letters RWBY.

"She did earn it." Rime said aloud.

Blanche saw the scared look in the girl. "Not sure how that's going to work with her partner though." Blanched spied the bitchy one in the group. Weiss Schnee was not looking at her partner or even looking at her team. She looked over to the professors before she looked down. Team Brick's leader wondered what that was about. The group was shuffled off the platform before the next team was called.

"Here it is," Blanche looked up from her front row seat. The third years started to notice it. It seemed to spread like a wave as the second years realized it too. Then the final team was called to the platform.

 _Nora Valkyrie, Lei Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Asan Satya. You have collected the white bishop pieces. You will form Team Noria. Led by Nora Valkyrie._ Like the other teams, the screen above them showed Nora Valkyrie's portrait along with the letters NRPA.

Blanche would have whistled at the leader choice if the dead silence from the peanut gallery was not so noticeable. The freshmen clapped politely but slowed to a stop when the second and third years did not start immediately.

Six teams. There were only six teams in the freshmen year.

There was a gentle clap from the center stage. Blanche noticed it was Mr. Arc. The headmaster and Professor Goodwitch followed. That snapped the students out of their surprise as the whole stadium clapped to welcome the first years.

-o-

Ruby sat on her bed while two of her teammates argued.

"Excuse me princess Schnee, not all of us want to listen to someone that descended from the mountains to claim they know better!"

"How dare you! I have been trained to be an organizer and I just said there could have been a mistake in letting someone younger than us become leader!"

"Leave it to a Schnee to try and take something that doesn't belong to them!"

Ruby felt herself nearly in tears. Their first team meeting was going as bad as she thought it would. And they had not even been together for a few hours. She looked to her sister for help.

Yang was wide eyed and decided to stop watching the train wreck. "I think we all should calm down for just a second. We need to learn to get along."

Weiss rounded on the blonde, "Easy for you to say, it's your sister! Does she even know not to favor you?"

Yang scowled. "Hey! I am trying to get us to cool down. Ruby knows better than to favor any of us. Just give us all a chance to be a team Weiss."

Weiss turned away with a frustrated sigh. "Come on Blake. I can't be the only one that thinks Ruby is too young to lead the group."

Blake's ears lowered against her skull with a vicious glare. "Don't. You. Dare. try and bring me into that argument Schnee. You may think you hide it well, but you damn well telegraphed what you thought of me as soon as you saw my ears. You have been nothing but a toxic pile of sludge since we got into this dorm."

Ruby sniffed. "Guys…" she nearly whimpered her plea. Maybe Weiss had a point. They were not listening at all. "Stop."

"I did no such thing! I was simply surprised there were faunus here in Beacon." Weiss said wide eyed.

"Welcome to Vale! The place that allows faunus to walk around in the daylight Schnee. Grow up."

"I said stop…"

"Is that what happened?" Yang glared at the petite Schnee. "Really Weiss? There are a lot more faunus here in the school. Will that be a problem we need to watch out for?"

Weiss looked horrified at the two taller girls. "No! Nonono. I never once thought that! I just-"

Blake crossed her arms unimpressed at the alarmed silver haired girl.

"Guys you need to stop arguing." Ruby sniffed slightly as they continued to ignore her. She looked around and wondered, what should she do? What could she do? They wouldn't stop and any chance for them to be a team, to be friends, seemed to die a fiery death between their words.

"Stop." She murmured and found she was really tired of being ignored. "I said stop." She sniffed and looked at all three. She glared at them for a moment and her semblance came to life. Rose petals floated across the girls. Yang was the first to see something and looked over to her sister to see the young leader scream. "ENOUGH!"

"All three of you out! You are all out of this dorm right now. Go walk around and cool off. I don't want to see any of you in this dorm room for two hours. If you can't follow these simple instructions I am going to the headmaster tonight to break the team!"

Yang looked to Blake and they both slowly stood up. Yang looked like she wanted to reach for Ruby to hug her. Ruby just glared at the three and pointed at the door. "Out."

Weiss still stayed in the room but she stood up too. She walked to the door and turned back to Ruby. "I still don't think what I said was wrong."

Ruby hissed out. "Than you missed the entire point of their argument. Out Weiss or I am going to drag you out of here by your hair!"

Weiss sniffed at the threat and walked out. The door closed and Ruby collapsed on her bed. She heaved a sob into her pillow.

Weiss stood on the other side of the door and listened to the girl bawl by herself. Weiss swore at herself and walked away. Ruby was right. She needed to go cool off.

-o-

Nora felt how… ungenuine her smile was as her team started to unpack. "Excuse me guys! I'm going to go see when the floor's kitchen closes."

Nora closed the door to her dorm behind her, but she could hear the amused voice of Asan ask, "Why would it close? Its just in the communal area."

Nora knew the excuse was a weak one, but she closed her eyes and sighed against the other side of the door. _How did I become leader? It would have been so easy to just let anyone else be leader. But me? How am I supposed to do any of this?_

Taking Ren by the hand wherever she went was completely different from leading a team. Ren just liked being with her. He was her closest friend. She thought of the two strangers in the room behind her. Pyrrha and Asan seemed nice and both actually looked relieved when they themselves were not chosen as leader. Nora honestly could not see what Ren would do as leader.

Nora moaned slightly and started to walk down the hall. The only comforting thought was that she was not really in charge of anything yet. She was more like a representative for the team when the headmaster would talk to them about her teams behavior. None of the group seemed to want to cause trouble. _Thank the lords for small favors._ She thought before she noticed that the light to the kitchen was on.

"Hello?" Nora called as she walked around the corner to find a girl with a red hood shuffling around with a sad look.

Nora wide grin nearly forced her eyes shut. "Hiya!"

The girl gasped and looked up. "Hello. Sorry. You scared me, I thought you were…. Someone else."

Nora gave the young girl a sympathetic look. "You were hungry?"

The girl looked around at the mess she made on the counter from what seemed like baking. The young girl glanced at her bowl and shook her head. "Not really been hungry the last few days. This is for my team."

Nora walked into the kitchen and looked at the scared girl. "Congratulations on being made leader. Ruby right?"

Ruby nodded and looked at the mess around her section of the counter. "Yeah. Thanks. You too."

Nora felt her face give Ruby a pained look. Ruby's matched her perfectly. So much so that they both giggled. "Sorry. Ruby. I think I needed that."

Ruby's mouth morphed into a ghost of a smirk that found its way out of her dour mood. Ruby looked back to the mixing bowl to hide it. "I did too actually. I'm making cookies to try and bring peace to the team." She lost some of the shine to that smile but it was more optimistic now.

"Problems already?" Nora walked up to the counter and sat on a stool. Her hand propped up her chin as she offered an ear to listen.

Ruby nodded while she looked over the ingredients. "You can say that. I didn't expect to be here this year and I never felt ready. I think my partner picked up on that. I don't know what to do about making her like me, much less work with me. My mom always said cookies makes everyone feel better. I hope these work for her."

Nora nodded and she pushed aside the panicked vice that seemed to choke her chest when she thought of her own status as leader. "I guess I was lucky there. Everyone one on my team is pretty relieved not to be leader. Not sure how I am going to give orders. I usually just move and Ren follows. If you need help with anything I can help. Well, I can try."

Ruby looked up at the older girl. The youngest girl in Beacon looked like she might tear but blinked and looked back to the mixing bowl to continue to mix the contents. Her face looked less pinched and anxious. "Thanks."

Nora changed the subject and did her best to distract Ruby. She told stories how Ren and her had traveled on their own for years before they took an exam to attempt the initiation.

"Was it a lot of writing?" Ruby wondered aloud.

"Naw. It was more to make sure we had aura and knew how to use it. I got tossed a few hundred feet by a giant golem thing, and Rennie had to stand a few minutes under aura pressure."

"What's that?"

Nora laughed and shrugged. "Beats me. Ren said I did the same test, but I guess I didn't notice anything." Nora giggled along with Ruby. The girl seemed more relaxed now. "It's Nora by the way."

Ruby turned on the oven and looked up. "Hm?"

"My name, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Nora Valkyrie leader of team Noria."

"I'm Ruby Rose, leader of Team Ruby." Ruby grimaced at that but extended her hand. The two exchanged a handshake that morphed into a four step handshake complete with hand slap low and a high five at the end.

"Do you think the headmaster made up those team names off the top of his head?" Ruby asked. "No way they rigged the teams to come together for premade names."

Nora laughed. "No idea. But I wondered about it when I got my team name. I had no idea what a noria was."

Ruby tilted her head but shook her head when she admitted she didn't know what it was.

"My teammate Asan actually knew it off the top of his head. It's some kind of water wheel for a stream. He said his village used them as prayer wheels though." Nora faltered at that.

"You ok?"

Nora grimaced and shook her head. "I guess that's why I'm down here. When he told me that, I think I really needed some air. I wondered if the headmaster had a different plan for the team leader and just chose me for some stupid reason like my name started with an 'N'."

Ruby paused. "I really hope not. That would mean he did the same for me. I could _so_ not use the extra stuff that came with it."

Nora snorted at the thought. "I doubt that is true, but with the way Asan went on to say that he only heard of noria's in his home village, I had to wonder…"

"I guess that makes two of us. I am not sure why I was made leader, but I'm here. Baking cookies to try and smooth things over."

"Hey, if it doesn't work we got a new friend out of it!" Nora cheered at the thought.

Ruby looked up surprised and grinned. "I guess we did." She pulled out the cookie sheet. "I think I'm making a double batch. I feel like I am a little hungry now. Did you want some, they will take a while though."

Nora scratched her head before she went to the sink to wash her hands. "Mind if I help? I don't think I've ever baked cookies before."

Ruby beamed and pushed the flour closer to her new friend. "Yeah. Sure.

-o-

Ruby waited back in her dorm. The smell of freshly baked brown sugar cookies filled the room. It was just past the two hour mark when the door opened. She felt her heart stop when it opened to reveal her sister. Ruby didn't allow herself to relax. She simply patted the spot next to her on the floor. Yang moved and sat down next to her. The plate of cookies in front of them both. A few minutes passed before Blake walked in. She apparently smelled the cookies before walking in. She zeroed in on them immediately with perked ears. Ruby smiled and patted the other side of the floor silently. Blake took the spot across from Yang. The three remained silent and waited. It was close to curfew so Weiss would not be too far behind. The door opened again. This time Weiss looked at the three and very reluctantly walked inside and closed the door. Ruby gestured to the floor across from her.

Weiss looked like she debated if she would really sit on the floor but walked forward and knelt into a seated position. Ruby looked around at her team. The traces of her own tears had long dried and disappeared. Weiss looked tired and Blake and Yang look between Ruby and Weiss. Both seemed ready to feel with an impending blow up.

"Thank you for listening to me and taking the time to cool off everyone. Since you all listened to me, I think I should listen to you. If you have anything to say, you can say it now and not worry about anyone talking back." Ruby looked back and forth in warning to Blake and Yang. Both looked ready to mutiny at that but they both calmed down and agreed with a nod to follow directions. "And if you want to talk, you get a cookie. I think they came out pretty good." Ruby reached out and took one. She looked around the group and lost some of the air of authority she pushed when she shyly asked, "Who wants to go next?" Then she bit into her cookie.

Weiss huffed. "I should go first. I would like to apologize to Ruby and her sister about my lack of tact. Upon reflection you were correct in that I could have conveyed my concerns better. But my concerns were for her and the team." Weiss looked at Yang who looked put off but did not say a word. "Ruby is two years younger than any of us with the years of schooling skipped to come to the academy. She is missing out on a lot of her education and is now placed in a leadership role with an education handicap. This was what I was trying to say and failed earlier."

Weiss reached out to grab a cookie. She looked at it and gave it a delicate bite. She looked at Ruby who smiled triumphantly. Weiss resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she took another bite.

Blake did her best to not scowl at Weiss. It just looked like she had a headache. "I am sorry Weiss. I am from Atlas too." That got the Schnee's attention. "I lived with families that worked in the mines. And I've seen what happens to faunus in the upper city. Vale is a haven compared to that. Or it was until this last week. Vale feels very much like Atlas right now and you being on the team was a reminder of what I saw. I am sorry for taking that out on you." Blake rubbed her elbow with a half apologetic shrug. She reached for a cookie and nibled it.

Yang scratched her head. "Well I want a cookie so I guess I should say I am sorry for not listening to Ruby when I just said she would be a good leader. I didn't allow her to lead. And I am sorry for being so defensive Weiss. I have been an older sister to Ruby for a while and it just felt like I slipped back into that role without meaning to." Yang grabbed a cookie and ate half of it in a single bite. "Still good Rubes."

Ruby's relief was palpable. "So now we know where we all were during the fight. Can everyone agree we started badly and recovered from the fight?" Ruby looked around as everyone nodded.

"Just one more thing Ruby." Ruby looked nervous when Weiss spoke. Weiss looked like she wanted to say something and finally decided on. "I was wrong. And I'm sorry. If this is what you do to help our team. Then you are a good leader."

Ruby gave a nervous relieved laugh. It was a breath she held for as long as Weiss had spoke. "Thanks. So? Teammates?"

The four looked around at each other and nodded. They each grabbed another cookie and they touched them all together like champagne glasses. The all looked relieved when they said, "Teammates."

-o-

Jaune watched the precession as they arrived into the graveyard. There would be too many funerals to attend if they were not all done at once. Seventy-one huntsmen died in the defense. Three students were among them. Jaune was relieved it was not more. It easily could have been a massacre of the third years. Jaune had the older huntsmen to thank for that. He knew how many had just tried their best to handle their job and still watch after the third years. All it would have taken was a simple mistake for one of them to lose their life.

The mass grave was a stone mausoleum for the heroes who died in the protection of Vale. The remains of the huntsmen were cremated and placed in their own private spaces. The stone plates that covered each huntsman's remains gave a private epitaph and date and what battle they died.

Jaune stood alongside Headmaster Ozpin, Mr. Roselink and Councilwoman Soek at the memorial service. The rest of the council stood behind them but silent. The ceremony itself was far shorter than Jaune felt it should have been. But there was a lot of work to do. Mr. Roselink hurried out after he bid Jaune a good day. He had the crew build a depot near the water to unload trains with the undamaged tracks. The trains would have to come one at a time. It was far slower than what it was before the attack. But trains were still coming.

The people of Vale for the large part were unaffected other than some jitters with the knowledge that there was an attack. With no real enemy to direct their ire, Councilwoman Soek gave an optimistic speech how Vale and it's huntsmen would always be ready to defend their country. Jaune's left hand ached during that.

Jaune stood at attention the entire time until the procession left. All that remained were the volunteers and workers to clear the cemetery. Glynda had stood off to the side and only now walked up with a few flowers. She handed them to him. "Thank you for holding on to those for me Glynda. If you would excuse me Headmaster."

Ozpin gave him a solemn nod of the head.

Jaune walked off the stage and into the stone building. Squares lined the walls with names of huntsmen, patrolmen, civil servants, and civilians who had fought against the grim in the name of Vale. Towards the middle, Jaune started to see some of the families as they huddled around the new squares. None of them knew who he was. Fewer paid any attention to him on the side of the stage. Jaune thought none of them knew what his blue vest even meant.

Jaune weaved through the crowd of mourners huddled around the names of their family members. He finally found the names he was looking for. The only Beacon casualties. "Hello Team Sleet." This side of the mausoleum was for Beacon students while they attended the academy. Jaune raised the flowers and placed them on the stone shelf below each name. The shelves were full of flowers and small candles.

Jaune stared at the names. It was only now that it hit him that these students were dead. He blinked back a few tears. "Sal, Lenei, Tanis." There was an empty space next to them along the same row. Their names just happened to be towards the end of the wall but Jaune could have easily pictured their team mate's name there. "Thank you for your hard work. Thank you for making sure not all four of you were on this wall."

Jaune stared at the names and he felt his eyes run. "I was always proud of you. You were good kids." Jaune nearly choked out that last bit before he touched the stone wall. "You were great huntsmen."

Jaune took a moment to compose himself. It was the first time he knew anyone that died personally. The fact they were students… Jaune stepped back. He stared at the names one last time before he walked back out. The families had thinned out of the mausoleum. When he emerged, the headmaster stood alone having waited for him.

"Let's go Mr. Arc."

Jaune followed Ozpin away from the memorial.

-o-

"You mentioned you needed help for the eventual next big case."

Jaune sat in the now familiar chair in Ozpin's office the next morning. "Yes sir." Jaune knew his sullen voice had put off a few people this morning, but he really had not been in the mood to be upbeat since the memorial.

"You asked for help before, but it was more for aides for your work in Beacon. What you are asking for now is different."

Jaune nodded. "We only really survived the attack on the kindness of friends. Had Neo decided to leave when her contract was up, or if General Ironwood was not as paranoid as I am, we would either still be on that line, or have fallen."

"I'll make some inquiries. Plenty of Huntsmen saw your work. But there will be precious few that would have the ability to move as fast as you. You still believe that Arthur Watts was interested in your companion?"

"At this point I am not sure. Coco did not recognize the man, but that means little. Either way, I _am_ convinced he would leave Vale alone until he has cause to think the maiden is here. The attack was as much to do damage as it was to see if he could flush the maiden out of hiding. The signal he used was still locking us out of the CCT after we had cut the connection to the antenne. He was in town. Probably with several men to attack the maiden if she had appeared. I am just counting us lucky he showed no interest in trying to control the grim like the woman that attacked us in Minstral did."

"The lack of search is my fault. I had assumed that sending out a few huntsmen to look into curiosities would be enough. But he must have seen through them, or focused on you."

Jaune gave a tired laugh. "I would have been the one you would have sent out if you wanted someone to look for the next Maiden."

Ozpin nodded in agreement and looked up to see the vehicle had made it around the lake.

-o-

Jaune walked into Juniors for the first time as a patrolman without his hoodie. He could appreciate why Miss Belladonna would be reluctant to let go of her bow. He felt naked without something protecting his face and hair. The twins were surprised when he appeared at the club entrance with his jersey on. "Fourth floor Melanie."

Melanie had her wits about her to quickly escort him from the entrance to the elevator. "I hope you know what you are doing." She warned.

Jaune refused to let his nervousness affect him. But she really tested that with her final look. "Me too."

Jaune recognized the man who had given him the card on Sunday. The man's round glasses in front of sharp narrow eyebrows gave Jaune a scrutinizing look before he nodded. "Mr. Velt is waiting."

Jaune followed into a room not too different from the others. Instead of a coffee table, there was a round table. Jaune ignored it for the moment until he found out who he was looking for. The man had dark green hair and a thick mustache. "Mr. Arc."

Jaune recognized the voice as one of the men who seemed to argue against opinions for his amusement during the council sessions he observed. "Councilman Velt."

The man smiled and moved around to put out a cigar at the table and gestured for Jaune to sit. _This is one of the families heads…_ Jaune felt he shouldn't be surprised. If there was a leak, it would not be too surprising for it to be from a councilman as much as one of the aids.

"You know who I am Mr. Arc."

"You are a head of one of the families." Jaune said quietly. His voice carried the cautious answer. It amused the older man.

Mr. Very nodded. "Surprised?"

Jauen shook his head ruefully. "It shouldn't be, power is power. It does not matter who it is so long as the city runs."

The man's humor filtered into his voice. "I appreciate the candor. My family has helped run the kingdom for generations. Both from the front and the alleys. You will meet a few of them I am sure if you are able to help me."

Jaune frowned. "I am not for sale Mr. Velt." There was a clatter of raised weapons. Jaune felt the blur of movement from around him as the two obvious guards and what seemed to be three more nearby grab weapons.

The man raised his hand. The guards had lowered their weapons. "I did not mean to insult you Mr. Arc. I apologize. What I am looking for is as much for Vale as it is for my family. And from what I have seen, you are very particular about the safety of Vale." The man gave Jaune a firm look. The kind that a grandfather would set on a grandchild that had been particularly smart.

"I am." Jaune replied. He felt the presence of the guards behind him. Their firearms were still ready but no longer threatening.

"I just ask you listen and decide for yourself." At the patrolman's nod, Mr. Velt pulled a folder from the table and opened it. Jaune looked at the paper that slid across the table top. "This is a transcript of a meeting of a few of the families. Names omitted, but you will get the general feel of the conversation when you read it. There has been a hostility among the families as of late. While it would normally be nothing new, this felt different."

Jaune tried to wrack his brain for anything about the families and then remembered what Roman said last week. "The families were nervous given my movements with the huntsmen."

Mr. Very nodded. "That is my concern. The families are a lot that tend to forget about small things like a patrolman running underfoot. But this was different. A few of the more influential families started to drum up noise. The families have never been this quick to anger. Nor have they been so set on panic. The escalation these last weeks had several words of real revolt against Vale. It has quieted now that it is common knowledge that you were prepping Vale for an attack from outside the country. But that still leaves the confusing reaction from the families."

"You think someone has been pushing things along to revolt against Vale."

Mr. Velt nodded. "Someone's hand has been pushing us along yes. You mentioned the man Watts who had orchestrated the death of the White Fang. I am concerned that he may have tried to do that with the families."

Jaune closed his eyes and saw where he needs to start looking. "I'll look into it. If there is a source that is still present, I will try and find it. But I give no guarantees. Not against the families."

Mr. Velt looked relieved. "All I ask is that you try. I don't want a war in our streets. Not when it could be prevented. Unfortunately this can not be an official investigation. But those powers would do very little for you here." The man looked out of the viewing window to the floors below. "Good luck patrolman. Just a word of warning. Try and not to fight anyone. I am not sure if the families will still not follow through with their misguided attempt to attack Vale."

-o-

Jaune walked into the elevator and was not sure what to think of everything he just learned. He needed more information. Jaune glanced at the elevator's doorman then at the number as it moved past the third floor to the second. "I need to speak to Junior privately."

The man nodded and stopped the elevator. He opened the maintenance hatch and pulled out a phone. "Patrolman Arc wishes to speak with Junior." There was a pause as the man hung up the phone. "Just a second Mr. Arc." The doorman held the stop button until a chime and pressed and held the fourth floor again. The elevator jerked before it was suddenly pulled upwards. The elevator passed the fourth floor and stopped at a new level. The door opened to a space that looked like an office building.

"Your floor Mr. Arc."

Jaune looked surprised but thanked him.

"Before you go. I trust what you saw just now will not be used again."

Jaune nodded and watched as the door closed behind him.

It was late at night, so many of the cubicles were empty. At the end of the hall was a larger office that led to a view of the city below. Jaune recognized Junior while the man looked over something on his screen. He stopped typing as Jaune walked in.

"Good evening Jaune. How was your first private meeting with a family head."

Jaune exhaled the tension he did not know he bottled up. "Not as bad as I thought but more than what I was expecting."

Junior smiled. "You asked for me. What do you need?"

Jaune pulled out a card to transfer funds. "I need everything on Councilman and family head for the Velt Family."

Junior teeth formed into a wide grin. "It will cost you."

Jaune laughed. "I was afraid of that."

Jaune was quiet on his way back to Beacon. The information from the transcript was more than just alarming. There had been _plans_. Plans on how to wipe out the huntsmen in a preemptive attack. What to do with the council. It was during these conversations that the families may not actually be aware of who the family head next to them actually were. He doubted that talks of over throwing Vale's council would have been mentioned in front of a councilman. Not unless Mr. Velt was everything Jaune had first thought the families would be.

Jaune looked at his scroll. He had a lot of reading to do.

-o-

Blanche had been nervous about going out to do another sweep of the forest. But now that she had been out here for a while in the early hours of the morning she felt silly. This wasn't the front lines. Not every time would be like the hundreds of grim that pressed down on her back.

Blanche looked at the rest of her team and her sister teams as well. They had all been going slow. When she looked over to Mr. Arc and Professor Goodwitch, they seemed to have expected the slower pace. They never once commented or pressured them to go faster like Blanche felt they may have done before the invasion.

" _Team Chrome is done sweeping the south end."_

Mr. Arc opened his scroll. "Then let's head home. See you at the bullheads."

There was a slow pause before the leader said something quietly to Mr. Arc. Blanche didn't need to hear it to know it was something about their friends. Mr. Arc said something quietly into the scroll before he closed it. The patrolman walked towards the edge of the clearing for the bullheads to wait for them.

Blanche didn't mind waiting. Team Chrome could take as much time as they needed to get their work done. They knew Team Sleet. It amazed her that they were even out here. Mr. Arc was just as surprised. He had ordered them to take the day off, but they insisted that they go out. She remembered the look between the professor and the patrolman before they both agreed. They had both been worried but did not stop the team.

When Team CROM came back Jaune gave the group a look of approval and gestured for the teams to get on the bullheads. Blanche looked out the window to the land as it flew under them. Fourteen miles deep. They were almost done. She would be happy with the extra sleep if she was honest, but she would miss being productive. After the invasion there was a mass of uneasiness? Restlessness would be a better word. The third years were all restless. The sweeps seemed to help but the three days where her team did not do a sweep, Blanche felt useless.

"Good work. You are dismissed huntsmen. Get some food." Patrolman Arc dismissed them all. But Blanche felt the satisfied grin on everyone's faces. They all felt it whenever he called them that. They had not graduated yet, but they felt like they were real huntsmen.

Blanche grimaced as she remembered when she got reprimanded for calling the princess bitchy. Mr. Arc immediately called her out on that. But there was a level of trust she could feel from the professors and the patrolman that was not quite there last week.

Rime led the group inside the mess hall and into the line for whatever was left for the morning's breakfast. Blanche heard the clatter of something metal hit the floor and everyone in the hall went quiet. She looked around until she spotted Croma with his team. They were glaring at a freshman. She hopped out of the line and started to make her way to them quickly. The freshman stood up and sneered at the upperclassman.

"Say it again. Please. I don't think I quite heard you correctly." Croma growled. Blanche looked over to Team Sleet but they all glared at the freshman.

The freshman was cocky but his team seemed nervous by the attention they got from all of the third years. Most of the class of third years were present and watched silently from their seats.

The freshman tried to push off Croma with little luck. "Get off, I just said what I was thinking. That's not against the rules."

Croma punched the freshman hard in the stomach. For all the bravado, the younger teen collapsed to his knees. He gasped heavily. Croma looked over to the other freshmen. "Let's get this out of the way now. Bad naming any fellow huntsmen regardless of their origin is not just bad form, it will get you killed in the field. Learn to keep those thoughts to yourself, or you will not last long here. Speaking ill of the dead would lead to worse."

That got the third years attention.

Blanche almost asked what he said, but another third year from the door ran in. "Patrolman on deck!"

Blanche stood at attention along with Croma's team. The seated third years all stood at once just as Patrolman Arc walked in. The second years were slow to stand but they followed the third years example and stood. The patrolman looked around. The first years were slow but they stood up one at a time unsure what was happening. The guy on the floor seemed to have tried to see what was going on but laid on the floor pitifully. The freshmen didn't seemed to have engaged his aura, not expecting a third year to actually hit him. Idiot.

The patrolman looked around and finally said, "Be at-ease Huntsmen." The patrolman noticed the still down freshman and walked toward them. Blanche was pulled away by her team but she was sure everyone was listening.

"Is there a problem here Team Leader."

"I was giving a freshman a lesson in unity sir."

The patrolman looked around at the third years who all seemed to look shyly back at him. "Meet me in my office this evening for a lesson review Team Chrome."

The group looked at the Patrolman guiltily but all replied in unison, "Yes sir."

"Be off then." The patrolman shooed them away and he looked down to the teen who had slowly been able to recover from the blow. "Team name?"

The student with the mohawk spoke for the group. "Team Cardinal."

"Who is the team leader?"

They all looked down to the teen who got his breath back and rubbed his stomach tenderly. The patrolman gave an unimpressed looked to the group. "That is your leader… Team Cardinal report to the hospital wing to get your leader checked and immediately report to Professor Goodwitch about this incident."

The patrolman started to walk away. Team Brick sighed but nearly groaned as the freshman team started talking amongst themselves. They seemed to not have learned their lesson as the leader started grumbling almost too loudly. "Who the hell does he think he is?"

Blanche looked over to the patrolman. He ignored the freshman as he left the mess hall. She sighed in relief before she glared at the freshman. He was still talking.

"He's just like us-"

Blanche simply said, "Look around you moron." The six freshmen teams looked around and felt the wave of oppressive aura from one hundred and thirty some third years glared at Team Cardinal. "Fix your attitude fast or no one that will want you when you leave Beacon."

Blanche turned to her team with a satisfied look. "Food?"

Ivory shook her head. "Nice to know terrorizing freshmen builds your appetite."

-o-

Croma stayed behind when his team was dismissed from Mr. Arc's office. "Sir?"

Jaune set down the form. He needed to document the incident since it involved a freshman and senior. There were other circumstances to consider. The freshman team built a lot of bad blood. The freshmen had out right wished death on the team that was killed in action and had commented on how they were surprised more of them didn't die.

It was a juvenile joke from someone who just did not know nor care to understand. Jaune looked over to Croma. The man looked ready to face punishment. Unrepentant. Jaune could understand why. "I still suggest counseling Croma. But that is your choice. Do you feel like you will act out again?"

Croma's jaw tensed. "No sir. The student's words just caught me off guard and I responded as if they were equals."

Jaune huffed through his nose. "The incident is documented but no other punishments will be issued at this time. Act out again, and I will need to sit your squad until you get some counseling."

That drained the tension from Croma and he nodded.

Jaune watched him squirm slightly. The huntsman was unsure if he was dismissed. Jaune eventually asked, "How is your team handling everything?"

Croma relaxed his stance now that the inquiry was over. "They are doing better. Rol goes and visits Tanis' square every few days. One of us goes with her. But she seemed better. Thank you for letting us know about Liat. We found her sister right away. I think that helped everyone to know she is ok."

Jaune set down his paper and stood up. "Everyone misses them Croma. Even me. Classes resume monday. But that doesn't mean we should forget what happened. It is just a reminder of what can happen to any of us and why what we do is so important."

Croma's eyes were red and jaw clenched. He thanked the patrolman and left the office.

Jaune was finally able to rub his eyes when the huntsman left.

-o-

Ozpin stood near the window looking out from his office when his patrolman walked in. "Thank you for coming Jaune. I have just spoken to General Ironwood from Atlas. I think we have found an agreeable answer to your partner problem."

Jaune walked up to his boss and followed the mans' gaze out the window. This early in the afternoon second years had started to train in the fields rather than in the stadium. Jaune couldn't actually see her, but he could imagine Coco and her team were somewhere down there challenging their friends to a race of some sort.

Jaune could almost wish that his third years were that care free. Jaune was not surprised they changed after the invasion. But he marveled at how they coped with it. He was pleased and relieved that so many students were able to accept the change and learn from it.

Jaune ignored the bit of bile in the pit of his stomach. Lately it had begun to burn uncomfortably whenever he thought of spending time with Coco. She made him a promise. He took a few days to realize that he was actually scared of what she showed him. No doubt tonight she would come to his apartment or invite him down to her dorm to share stories she heard and asked about among her classmates. She would be all smiles and allow him to unwind and just enjoy being a human being. He pictured her on her days off in a park or a street filled with shops. The time off was so... _her_. And it was not him.

Jaune turned to his boss and thought of what he needed to do inside Vale. Surrounded by problems that needed to be solved. Make sure things like invasions, rebellions, and people who want to abduct others to empower themselves don't succeed… To make sure Coco can stay her happy self for as long as possible. This was him.

"Just in time. I got a case where I could use the back up."

A/N: Finally its done! Thank you everyone for the reviews and welcome new readers. I planned to put this up a few days ago but decided to tackle a few ideas in this chapter. I really liked how it turned out. Team RWBY and Team NRPA actually spawned from a small scene I had cut early about Ruby and Nora bonding over their teams in their first class. It was an idea that I had thought would have gone in a separate story since it would be hard to justify putting in a class scene in this one if it wasn't relevant.

Goes to show you what you can do when you don't immediately delete things you don't like or would cut right away.

Oh! I just remembered! With this chapter, this story has becomes the longest single story I've written. Noice! Sorry 'A walk alone'! I try and work on you and nothing is coming out good.

I am looking to target the end of October for the next chapter and maybe squeeze one more out in december. See you all in a few months!


	11. Chapter 11 Hollow-hearted

Jaune ran faster than he really should have this morning. But his chest no longer hurt. He could breathe! Jaune slowed and pulled up the collar of the shirt to wipe the sweat off his eyes and nose. He had missed not being able to do his work out routine. And with the doctor's ok he finally could really push himself again. He flinched at his hand. It still burned and was tender. A point in his run he needed to pull it close to his chest to not let the blood rush to the angry welt in his palm. That would still be a few weeks where he would have to work around that annoyance.

Jaune glanced at his scroll. Coco would be in class for a few more hours. The day had been one of the few days where no third years would clear the forest. Jaune had taken the chance to actually train himself. It had been something he had neglected for weeks. While he had been keeping active by helping Coco and her team for a time, that was more like a coaching session for her team rather than training for himself.

Coco was good natured when she teased that she could sic the whole team on him. Jaune was still not sure if they were fast enough to pull that off and still be effective. At least Jaune felt like Velvet and Fox were getting there.

Jaune sprinted from one tree to the next. _Punch, low kick, palm hill upwards_. The tack sound of contact broke the silence in among the trees. After a combo, Jaune would move to the next tree and perform another combination.

Jaune panted and looked at the forest while he wiped some spittle from his mouth. To his eyes, there were hundreds of practice targets. He roared a charge and sprinted at top speed and rebound off one tree before he moved to the next.

The morning wore on with his one good hand covered in small ping markings from times he hit the tree too hard with his good hand. He shook off the ache and noticed the time while he walked around in a slow circle to cool down. Jaune stretched for a moment to admire the forest. The teams have done a great job curating it of grim. The forest was alive with the noise of birds and animals. The sweeps did their job. Jaune would never allow civilians to wander around now, but the huntsmen would have to really search for a threat in the area.

Jaune took two steps to accelerate into a good speed around trees until he found the main road. Jaune felt the concrete press back against his soles and couldn't help the grin on his face. The world began to blur around his vision. It was a speed he rarely was able to run. Trees would never allow it, and paved roads were a rare thing in Anvil. This one stretched on for miles.

It was times like this he missed actually training with Tripod. The morning ache and the rush of blood he felt was something he had almost forgotten. The training was not much different from what he did with Coco's team. The difference was Tripod had trained with him for so long she was always a threat to him she had always been just almost able to land a hit. Jaune knew he developed his own speed because she kept getting faster to match.

 _And I do miss smearing her face in the dirt._ He admitted to himself. _Linda._ He thought to himself. _There is a name I haven't thought of in a long while._ It was virtually impossible to track down his best friend. He would need to call Anvil and ask her father to pass a message. Jaune was not even sure Linda even knew he worked in Vale now.

When Jaune returned to Beacon, his legs felt good. The last sprint was barely half a mile but Jaune felt like he had run ten. Spots on his legs felt like they wanted to cramp in protest for the sudden more vigorous exercise. Jaune walked around for a bit in front of the staff apartments before he started to walk inside. The patrolman glanced at his scroll and exhaled the exhaustion out of his body.

General Ironwood had decided to visit as soon as the invasion happened. But it took him a few days to get permission to approach Vale. Jaune had no clue that Winter's superior was already enroute when Jaune oversaw her sisters initiation. They should finally have their face to face meeting tomorrow.

-o-

Winter Schnee stood at attention and waited on the landing pad for the General. The small contingent that escorted her stood against the early fall heat. Times for arrival were always approximate but the last communication update said that the General's ship should arrive within the hour. That was an hour and a half ago.

Winter would have been concerned but she peaked at the escort detail the General was assigned. He was coming in _The Capitol._ It was his personal flag ship. She understood why the ship may be a little late.

The few times she was on board with the General, they had to ferry on a smaller ship to any place to touch down.

"Attention!" Winter ordered. She heard the small engines before she spotted the ships. Three Atlesean ferries lowered from a high altitude almost on top of them.

The three ships landed in a swish of warm air. The hatch to the center ship opened. Winter and her contingent of five soldiers saluted in greeting. "Welcome to Beacon sir."

The Generals' salt and pepper head tilted upward to the tower. "It's been a while. At-ease. Lead the way First Lieutenant."

"Sir!" Winter left-haced and led the way to his accommodations.

"Has Vale completed the investigation of the invasion?"

"Yes sir. Private Pollendina's data allowed the investigation to move swiftly. There had been no sign of White Fang activity since."

"Good. I want you on my ship when we head back to Atlas. _The Capitol_ is on patrol along the eastern ridge."

"Do you think they will find something?" First Lieutenant Schnee asked genuinely concerned.

General Ironwood was straight faced as the group entered the tower. "No. But they needed some busy work for keeping me late." There was only just the hint of a laugh at the end of his voice.

-o-

Private Pollendina stood at attention while the General reviewed her report. She was once told by a fellow private that this was the worst moment for them. The review session where the CO's would evaluate your actions during an assignment.

Penny blinked at the memory. She was not sure what she felt. The General wasn't looming over her like the private said. The air was clean and not suffocating either. Sure she was curious about her progress and what General Ironwood thought of her actions. But she didn't have the 'butterflies' in her stomach when he finally spoke.

"Private Pollendina. You have represented Atlas well during the invasion. The doctor was pleased with the results of the unintentional field tests during the Patrolman Defense. The team that monitored your systems during the incursion found no stress or unexpected anomalies. First Lieutenant Schnee also commended your actions." The General raised the report and read aloud. " _Private First Class Polendina has exercised great judgement in seeking the location of the objects and lateral thinking in recording data upon discovering the source_."

General Ironwood set the report down and folded his hands on his desk. "Now that you have had some time to reflect on your actions, did you find anything you may have wished you had done differently?"

Private Pollendina stared at the General for a moment before she answered, "I had tracked the number of grim that were created during the defense. However, I had overestimated the abilities of the huntsmen who made their defense. Had I known that the grim incursion could have overwhelmed the defense at any moment, I would have sped up my search for the hearts instead of recording the data."

"And your thoughts on the huntsmen during that defense?"

Penny kept her chin up, "They are huntsmen. I did not mean to imply that I thought less of them. My initial estimate of their abilities were based on my own experiences. Atlas military trains us to fight with one mind, one body. The huntsmen fight in teams. It was a difference I did not fully comprehend until I saw the differences that night. The huntsmen had all fought and bled for the defense. Some lost their lives. I would not want to be dismissive of those sacrifices."

General Ironwood leafed through a packet of papers. It was the report Penny submitted to First Lieutenant Schnee. Eventually the General folded his hands on top of the desk. "Private, we have always known your life and career would take turns we could not expect. The defense is proof that people like you are needed."

Penny resisted the urge to smile at the praise. She received so little of them from General Ironwood himself in the last few years.

"I have spoken to the Doctor about your future. I had planned to enroll you as a student into Mistral Academy to participate in the Vytal Festivals freshman group to give you a field test. The Doctor and I have both decided that is now redundant."

General Ironwood stood up from his desk and walked around it and took a small box that sat on it. "Attention Private." He ordered in a kinder voice than she had expected.

"Sir!" Penny watched as the First Lieutenant stood next to him.

"By the power given to me by Grand Marshal Solun. You are promoted to Specialist. Grim Slayer Division." The General opened the box to reveal a gold on black badge to replace the PFC badge on her shoulder.

Penny inhaled slightly at the surprise. Because she was still in testing phase, she had not expected to be promoted. Many of the General Staff were not happy with her independence.

"Thank you sir. I will not disappoint you." Penny allowed a smile at the new badge slip past her guard.

General Ironwood nodded to Lieutenant Schnee. The Lieutenant added, "Unfortunately, you will not be able to immediately use the badge Specialist."

Penny closed the box and stood back at attention. _An actual assignment._ She thought to herself. Again she was surprised. It felt like it was all moving too fast now. "What are my orders?"

"Vale still needs help. The chief of staff has agreed to assign you to that position."

"Sir?"

General Ironwood frowned and leaned against his desk. "At ease Specialist. I would be frank with you."

Penny nervously relaxed her arms after watching the First Lieutenant do the same. That seemed to amuse the General.

"Penny. The reason we flew engineers to Vale was to ensure their security was no longer compromised. With Arthur Watts now a person of interest, Atlas has to face the very real fact that we are now exposed as well."

Penny blinked at the implications. It was rare to have anything below a private on the field. The academy trains officers. The rank and file for decades had been automated robots. "That means we would be vulnerable to the same kind of attack."

General Ironwood smiled. "Yes. Already we have our engineers working to address the issue. Atlas had not been as concerned of the security breach until the Grim invasion. Grim have a hard time surviving the cold mountains. Atlas' main city defense was the fact that it is elevated in the air. Our turrets had always been more than enough for the defense for airborne grim. But these grim hearts you found change everything. It was enough that the Grand Marshal has agreed to open our borders. We have requested an open application of huntsmen to Atlas."

"Will it be enough?"

General Ironwood shook his head. "No. At most they would be able to supplement a defense. As we can never guarantee the integrity of our security, huntsmen will be apart of our foreseeable future."

"Then what am I to do in Vale if I am needed in Atlas?"

"You will be assigned to be an aid to Patrolman Arc. We have no system to manage the huntsmen. We know less of the way they would expect to be directed. You will learn that from him."

"Sir. Then I would be taking leave from the Military?"

"Yes. You will receive leave tomorrow morning at O'nine hundred during our meeting with Headmaster Ozpin and be transferred to work under Beacon Academy."

Penny looked up to the ceiling while she processed what Ironwood was really saying. Aside from her mission, this was the first time she was being released from the confines of the military. Penny would not be allowed to wear the uniform. "Sir? May I make a request?"

-o-

James Ironwood started his morning early to discuss the ships departure. He had just arrived and knew the time in Vale was too short. There were so many things he wished he could accomplish while in the country.

When Ironwood walked into Ozpin's office, the first thing he noticed was Jaune Arc and Glynda Goodwitch had flanked their headmaster. While his eyes softened at seeing Glynda for the first time in three years, James looked past her to assess the patrolman. He had heard quite a few things about this man. He finally understood why he could be underestimated. In uniform his own students always looked old for their age. But when he saw the young man in a simple pair of jeans and blue shirt. The only thing that could be noticeable is the strap that crossed his chest for the slim backpack he wore. The first glance would have just dismissed him as a child.

James knew better when he looked at the young man's eyes. Sharp, focused and just as assessing as his own. James had to smile. Apparently he was being judged as well. "Ozpin, It is good to see you. Glynda."

The woman seemed to stand straighter as she barely tilted her head, "James."

James walked up to the desk. "Jaune Arc I presume?"

"Yes sir."

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you. Both the First Lieutenant and the Specialist had said good things about your work on the defense."

The young man raised his chin, "Thank you sir."

"I wish I could have come sooner Ozpin, what is it you need from me?" He asked while in an official capacity.

The headmaster gestured for Atlesean group to sit. Only General Ironwood accepted the offer. Ozpin and James shared a look as old friends before the headmaster started. "Vale has lost a number of vital huntsmen during the Patrolman Defense. So much so that many of the huntsman have been released from their defensive contracts to be reassigned to more critical jobs in Vale's defensive outposts. The third years have received enough experience to supplement the normal defense functions for the city boarders. But that leaves the city police on their own to handle issues if they encounter aura users."

James looked over to the patrolman. "I see no problem if you have a patrolman on board."

The General watched as the patrolman remained passive but the young man turned to look at Ozpin. Ozpin raised to fingers for the patrolman. Jaune Arc pulled out his scroll and set it on the table. The projector displayed several files in the air. "It is a little more complicated than that. Once the council had discovered my 'value' a few of them have been adamant to renegotiate my contract. Beacon has refused."

Ozpin folded his hands on top of his desk. "This has led to unintended consequences. The patrolman could only be summoned if there is a unanimous vote. Two councilmen have declared there would be no call until the contract is renegotiated."

James understood but shook his head. "Very short sighted of them. Where does that leave you now Patrolman?"

The blonde teen frowned. "While in Vale I am just a citizen. I have no legal standing beyond that. I can't call for support from Vale PD nor can I make arrests. At least one member of the council has been concerned with developments with the Families that reside in Vale. I have been requested in an unofficial capacity to investigate why they have been so hostile to Vale. The councilman I spoke to was concerned that what happened to the White Fang may have been attempted within the families. Which means Watts, or one of his associates may still be in Vale."

James stirred in his seat. "If you are able to share, what will you do next?"

"I need to look for a diplomatic solution. What I lack right now is information. I have a family name I can arrange a meeting due to their low standing. They may be interested in an opportunity to get back into the Families good graces. The other option would be riskier. Junior, who runs the information racket here in Vale, may be willing to help introduce me to the other family. I know their faces but not their names."

Jaune supposed he should thank Miss Xiao-Long for that opportunity. He was fairly sure the woman was a family head. Jaune agreed with Winter's frown. "I know it is not a lot to go on, but it is all I have. I can't start a timeline of events or who would have been receptive to outside influence without their help. The last thing I want is to agitate the families to follow through with their uprising."

"Police would be useless here since the only contact with the families would be within Juniors, James." Ozpin supplied helpfully. That seemed to make the General understand.

James crossed his arms and muddled over the information. He sighed before he gestured to one of his soldiers. The man produced a paper folder to the patrolman. James saw the teens curious look. "That is all we have on Arthur Watts before he disappeared twelve years ago. He was caught selling cancelled projects to an arms dealer in Mistral."

The patrolman gripped his hands together behind his back. "White Wolf?" He had researched the arms dealer from his first real case. He had only given up the search when nothing came of it nearly a year later.

James felt the respect in the young man rise a notch. "Yes. That would be her."

The patrolman smiled slightly. "I might have another point of contact then. Thank you sir." The patrolman opened the folder and gave a brief look to the first page before he closed it.

"It sounds like you have a plan forming." James spared a look to Ozpin before he added. "Specialist Polendina!"

The gingered haired girl snapped forward two steps in her atlesean uniform. "Sir!"

"You are being reassigned to Beacon Academy as an aid to Patrolman Jaune Arc. You will have two Atlas personnel on campus to aid you if you need anything from home Penny. Aid the Patrolman in any way he deems necessary."

The young woman's eyes visibly brightened. "Understood Sir."

General Ironwood turned around to address the patrolman. "Mr. Arc. I would ask you train Penny as best as you can. Atlas has opened its borders to more huntsmen and we do not have the training other countries have in coordinating with and working alongside them."

Jaune's eyebrows rose into his hairline. "I understand. I'll pull up some old incursions I can go over with her. I may have her sit in with me on some classes Barty would lecture that may cover some of these topics. Is that alright?"

The question was addressed to the General, but he looked over to Penny. The girl looked surprised she had any input. "Yes! That would be wonderful."

Jaune smiled. "You seem eager enough. I'll put something together for tomorrow and have you shadow me through the third years while they do forest clearing patrol."

Penny frowned. "Shadow?"

Jaune matched her confused look. "Shadow… follow me around to learn what I do. You'll be my little shadow."

That seemed to enlighten her. "Oh! Very well." She gave a satisfied smile to her General.

James added as an afterthought. "Penny has been raised within the military Mr. Arc. I do not believe she has had experience with anyone outside of the rank and file."

Jaune nodded as he walked up to her. "A military brat. That's alright. I am sure we'll become fast friends. Right Penny?"

Penny grinned with an exaggerated nod. "I would definitely like to be fast friends Jaune." Penny smile was so wide her eyes were nearly closed as she faced the General.

Jaune faced his boss. But the amused look did not fade. "If we may be excused Ozpin?"

"We are done here for the most part Jaune. It will be just minor details from one academy to another."

Jaune smiled and looked over to his new partner. "Come on Penny. Let's get you situated and we'll go into town. I want to follow the lowest risk lead first."

Ozpin hmm'ed a moment and opened his console. "Stop by the main office. Miss Poledina should have a scroll and card ready for her. Your room is not yet prepared yet Miss Polendina. I will have 'Keep and Dorms' message you when one is fully prepared. Let either Jaune or I know if one has not been assigned before five in the evening."

"Yes sir." She saluted in what could have only been habit. It took her a moment to look for a cue if she should continue to salute.

Jaune's encouraging voice called to her. "Let's go Penny. We got work to do." Jaune gave a slight bow to the General and Winter before bid the headmaster a good day.

-o-

Penny stepped up quickly when Jaune made a motion for her to walk alongside him and not behind her. "Are you comfortable running in that?" Jaune asked as they walked outside the administration office.

Penny had been busy marveling at the sheer amount of _green_ around the campus when Jaune interrupted her. Penny inspected her uniform. Buttoned to the collar and supportive around the waist and back. The Atlasean silver accents gleamed in the autumn sun. She looked over to his clothes and thought back to the others she had seen on campus. It was _odd_ to see no uniforms at all. Not even a general consensus on the population on what to wear in general when she thought about it. "It has never stopped me before. Why do you ask?"

"I wanted us to run to Vale. We're going to make a few stops in town Penny. Most of it is to introduce you. But we'll be collecting some information along the way. If you hear or see something you want to ask about, save it until we get back to Beacon. We are going to places were people _will_ sell information they pick up." Jaune started to stretch his legs.

"Alright. Just lead the way."

Jaune smiled. "I'll start slow then start to speed up. Let me know if you want to go faster or slower."

Penny hid a slight smile as the patrolman started to jog ahead of her. Penny was designed to chase airships on foot if needed. After leaving the Beacon grounds to enter the path going down the mountain, Jaune increased his pace. Penny flushed aura into her legs when they doubled their speed. At the base of the hill he picked up the pace again. The patrolman looked over his shoulder and grinned when she was right behind him. He looked at her legs and repressed a laugh.

"If you're using aura, adjust your stride, you will burn through it too fast like that."

Penny looked at her legs and noticed how much more land the patrolman covered with a single step. In comparison her own legs were moving twice as fast in a near blur at a stride made for a much slower run. Penny stumbled for a second as she abruptly changed to match closer to his stride. He was right, less effort was needed to maintain a longer stride. Penny passed him a thankful look. This was easier to manage and less of a drain and stress on her legs.

Jaune sped up a little to test her new stride. "We're about to hit a sand bank." He warned over his shoulder.

Penny knew that the sand would slow her down and thought she made enough of an adjustment on the first few steps. On the fifth step she was fully on sand and her body slowed for half a stride before she kicked off the ground harder to resume Jaune's pace. Penny watched as sand kicked off behind each of her own steps were the sand seemed to barely be disturbed when Jaune ran. She was unsure how he actually managed that. She knew she weighed less than he did, but her feet sank with every step.

"Let's speed up on the sand for a bit. This is the halfway point."

Penny had stared hard at his feet but looked up to give him a bright, "Alright!"

As soon as the sand broke away to earth of the tree line, Jaune's pace increased. His stride broke occasionally to make leaps and shifts of angles to move around trees and roots. Penny barely noticed he leaped with a grunt that kicked his legs forward. He cleared a sudden high root. Penny started to jump as well when she lurched.

 _THUD_

Juane looked over his shoulder to Penny.

Penny released a nervous laugh and a shy wave as she kept running to not fall behind. She looked over her shoulder at what her foot caught. A mass of uprisen roots were now six feet above ground along with half of the tree. The tree disappeared behind them.

"At least you didn't fall. When my best friend tried to keep pace for the first time, her foot caught a root and she face planted into the earth. Don't just look ahead to where you are going. Plan ahead. The faster we move the more you need to think about where you are going and how you are going to get there."

Penny watched as he turned back and picked up the pace one more time. His mind seemed to be on something else. In the back of her mind, Penny saved that bit of advice.

Penny followed Jaune for another eight minutes before they slowed to a stop. The main road was twice as wide as the transport railway tracks. Her boots stomped to a halt at the sudden demand to stop. Her feet slid unsteadily to slow the momentum. Penny secretly envied how gracefully Jaune slowed down in a few short steps.

Jaune seemed to inspect her closely. He huffed once through his nose with a satisfied grin. "Have you done this before?"

Penny swallowed and shook her head. "No. But the running was fun. I don't get to move like that for so long back in Atlas."

"The forest pace is usually what I like to keep moving at regardless of terrain. How long do you think you can keep something like that up?"

Penny smiled a nervous smile. "A few hours." She abruptly hiccupped. She lost her smile for half a second before it was immediately plastered back on her face. She hated those hiccups!

Jaune gave an "Ah." He placed a hand on his hip and pulled out his scroll to flash to the guard on the gate. "I wondered why you weren't breathing hard."

Penny let Jaune walk ahead so could not see her face. She did not realize he had been scrutinizing her so hard during the run. "I had stamina training." It was a weak reply by military standards. It was the kind of vague answer she would be reprimanded for. She felt a small cheer for not letting out an immediate hiccup. Then her chest lurched at a hiccup. _Why does this make me so nervous?_

Jaune laughed. "I did want to apologize." He waved for her to follow her inside the gates that cranked open for them to enter Vale. "Ozpin said you were fast. But I needed to make sure. No offense to Atlas, but I need to know you can at least keep up with me or there would be no point."

"I understand. I can go faster." Penny offered. She quickly added apologetically, "If we ever need to."

Jaune nodded at what seemed to be her default expression. "Thanks for letting me know. I only know of one other person that has aura and is as fast. So it's interesting to see how aura makes a difference."

Penny hummed. She had never seen nor heard of a civilian move so fast. "You seem to be moving awfully fast for someone who has no aura."

Jaune gave her that. It was true. "I've always chalked it up to these." Jaune patted his thighs. Even through his jeans Penny could see they bulged near the top of his thigh and corded down into his pants legs. "But I've been told by a friend that can see aura and energy that Patrolmen develop weird. I chalk it up to the kind of training and stress we put our bodies under. But he said that we look different from someone that has aura or someone that has it locked."

Penny hummed. She had never heard anything like that before. It was something to ask her father when she made her reports back to Atlas.

Jaune led Penny into the opened tunnel door to walk into Vale. His voice echoed off the stone walls. "Oh, I did want to say, congratulations. You were promoted right?"

Penny blinked at the sudden congratulations. "I did. Thank you very much! I was field promoted last night after General Ironwood reviewed my performance."

"Glad to hear you were given some kind of reward."

Penny was about to say something else when she stopped and gasped. Penny exited the tunnel on the other side to see a vibrant trade district. Hundreds of people walked to and fro. Several trucks filled with beams or boxes rolled by before even more people crossed the streets to go to their next destination.

Penny walked ahead with an almost 'o' shape to her mouth. She had been inside Atlas, but it was the pristine townhouses and residential district of the island. The Vale trade district wasn't dirty like the mines but it wasn't the white washed clean of the upper class. Jaune caught her gaze and nodded his head towards the west side.

"The place we are going is this way. You're welcome to gawk but try and not distract people. They will stop and talk to you and we are limited on time."

Penny blinked and followed him. "Would they get in trouble?" She asked worriedly.

Jaune shook his head. "Not really. If they are not in the actual factories, they are either on errands or off work. It's just that people are pretty friendly from this gate. A few will talk your ear off if you let them. It's the south gate you should be careful of who you talk to. It is the lower income area, and a few gangs had taken up residence there. I am sure they would be no problem for you to defend yourself, but we need to be careful of collateral damage."

"Like shops?" Penny asked confused.

"The people. A lot of homeless people live on the streets. There is no shelter on that side of town. They just live there because it is so close to the factories that would take them when there are openings."

Penny closed her mouth as the two made their way around several factories. Civilians stood and waved to her. She waved back happily. "Everyone is really friendly!" She chirped while Jaune had them go across the street.

"It's actually your uniform. Everyone knows Atlas came just in time to help save us. They don't know the details, but they know Atlas was on the front lines with the huntsmen. Just be careful, not everyone was happy with Atlas' monopoly on automated defense systems."

Penny started to notice it too now that he mentioned it. By the time she was down the street to the shop Jaune wanted to go into she was almost relieved. Her uniform really did bring attention to her. And not all of it good. There were a few scowls she was unsure how to deal with.

"Here we are." Jaune sighed as they finally made their way across town. "This close to the train yard I was worried they were closed."

Penny blindly walked into the store and was surprised at the racks of clothing. Slow calming music rang in her ears the further they walked. The store was divided down the middle for men's and women's with mannequins of each showing off designs of various clothing. "Jaune?" Penny asked unsure why they were there.

"We need to get you something that is not a uniform. You're not apart of the Atlas Military anymore. Where we are going that uniform will send the wrong message. Find something you can put on now and use the card you got from the office to pay for it."

Penny walked further into the store unsure what to look for. She surveyed the store before she glanced over her shoulder to Jaune. He seemed happy to just browse on the men's side.

"What will you do?" Penny wondered at his scrunched up face.

"I lost my hoodie during the defense so I need to find a jacket or something. Winter is coming in soon and the wind chill can literally dry and cut skin when you run fast enough."

Penny felt more nervous as she walked further down the shopping aisles. She felt the woman as she walked around the long way down an aisle. Penny slowly turned to her before the woman could sneak up on her. "Hello?" Penny asked.

The woman with the tied hair asked, "Would you like some help?"

Penny gave a relieved sigh. "That would be wonderful. Thank you for asking." Penny took the woman's hand, happily relieved for some kind of direction.

"What is it your looking for?" The brunette girl asked cheerfully while she took stock of the uniform.

Jaune from two rows down shouted, "Everything! She's fresh out of the military! No budget, but we only have a few hours here!"

The brunette grinned and winked at Penny. "Everything huh? This should be fun! A whole wardrobe is the things of legends miss?"

Penny blinked before she realized she did not introduce herself. "Penny Polendina. And yours?" Penny then noticed the name tag and bit her lip in a nervous apology.

"Bernadette! Come over here. We have things to talk about! Any idea of what you would like?"

"Something that I can wear that would last running for a long time. Nothing that is too frilly…" Penny thought aloud unsure what the woman was asking for.

"Colors?" Bernadette asked as she pulled aside racks of blouses.

"I like brown?" Penny asked unsure if she really did or not. So long as it was not white she did not really care.

Bernadette laughed and looked at Penny's uniform. "Oh, you don't get to decide on what you wear very often do you sweetie?"

Penny smiled to hide her embarrassment. "I don't remember the last time I wore anything that wasn't a uniform." She admitted.

Bernadette gave her a sympathetic look. "Well we'll get you squared away and dressed to impress."

A skirt flew into Penny's outstretched arms along with a number of other garments. "How many outfits do I really need?" Penny asked concerned when dress number seven stacked on her pile.

-o-

Jaune looked through the jackets not too happy with what he found. Several of these things had fur attached to them… Normally not that big of a deal. But these have it just around the collar… No lining at all. He put one back on the rack disappointed. He remembered coming in here with Fox once when he needed something for their mission back in the early summer. _Come to think of it, it was Coco that dragged us here to have him dress up like a doll…_

Jaune knew he was in for a time when he walked in the door. Even the quickest of his sisters would shop for hours in Anvil and that was a small department store. And expensive as hell since it was all imported from Vale. Jaune nodded to another man who wandered around looking bored. He seemed to be in the same predicament waiting for a female companion to finish shopping. Jaune just took a seat and grabbed a half year old magazine on a counter to look over while he waited. He passed the time that way until he heard a pair of steps walk up behind him.

"Ahem." The store employee cleared her throat expectantly.

Jaune looked up and paused to really look at Penny in her new outfit. It appeared she chose to wear a dark green skirt with a thin yellow belt. The new top was some kind of sleeveless light tan top with a wide v neck that almost made her shoulders bare. Penny was in the middle of fixing her new grey jacket. New dark green running shoes along with tall thigh high dark green socks covered her legs.

But that was not what Jaune noticed. "Huh, you are younger than I thought you were." Jaune nearly cringed at the attendant's sly smile.

Penny looked at herself in the mirror. Her reflection with her hand waving around in her jacket pocket stopped in mid swing. "Really? Is that a problem?"

Jaune answered quickly, "No. I am just seeing it from the other end is all. Did you find anything else?"

"A few things." Penny bashfully looked at the pile of clothes on the counter. "I am ready to pay and go. Did you find a jacket?" Penny asked while she buttoned up her jacket.

"No luck. I'll be outside when you are ready."

Penny smiled at Bernadette as the attendant gushed over Jaune. Penny smiled and nodded. She was aware of what the woman was talking about on an intellectual level. But Penny was not sure what made anyone attractive much less to the point of wishing Penny good luck.

Penny watched as Bernadette struggled to find the best way to fold the military uniform for her. Eventually Penny offered, "Allow me. I get in trouble if they do not get folded properly." Penny started to fold the uniform and then the other clothing in quick precise movements. Penny gave a secretive smile as she was handed the box for all of the clothes to be shipped to Beacon Academy.

"You pick up a few things in the military." Penny said conspiratorially to Bernadette who whistled in surprise.

"Our secret." She said gamely. Bernadette grinned and waved her out the door.

"That was faster than what I expected. I thought you would have taken a few hours to find things. She wasn't too pushy was she?" Jaune actually felt guilty about it now that she was done shopping. Maybe he should have waited a day to get Coco to shop with Penny. But he still needed to see people today and it was better for Penny to come along now….

"I'm more grateful for the help. I've always been issued clothes. She was very friendly." Penny said while she swung her arms back and forth in her new jacket.

Jaune gave her a considering look. He was not sure how it was like in Atlas but then he never really shopped for clothes himself until he came to Vale. Jaune still mostly ordered the same clothes since they were cheap and only had to pay a little extra more when he outgrew the old sizes.

"I'm glad to hear it. We're about to go make a few introductions."

Penny smiled, "Oh? More huntsmen?" She asked cheerfully.

-o-

Penny stood in front of an office building that was setting up a new sign above the third story windows. "Torchwick Mercenaries…" She said aloud while craning her neck.

"Nice to see that the Council honored their word." Jaune muttered as he walked in.

Penny took a moment to see laborers set down the sign into place before she followed in. "What did they say they would do?"

"That they would allow the Torchwick Mercenaries to operate inside of Vale. Most mercenary companies don't get that." The man standing at the counter looked down at Jaune from his shades. "Jaune Arc and Penny Polendina to see Roman Torchwick and Neopolitan."

"Appointment?"

"I am sorry, no."

The man nodded before he looked at his console. "Just a moment Mr. Arc."

Penny watched as the two continued to talk. When nothing interesting happened, Penny started to walk around. Paintings had only recently been placed on opposing walls of various landscapes. She stopped and stared at one that had a green covered cliff face with a waterfall flowing down it.

"Hello stranger."

Penny looked back to Jaune. He teased the woman he worked with during the defense.

Neo moved her hands quickly. The back of one hand slapped the palm of the other while she frowned before she smirked and made a thumbs down.

Jaune laughed. "No Neo, but thanks for offering. Penny let's go. We can't keep Roman waiting."

Penny followed into step with the two. She smiled and waved genialy at Neo. Neo kept her hands behind her back but leaned close to Penny. A little further and Penny felt Neo's cheek would touch hers.

"Is there something the matter?" Penny asked unsure how to handle the scrutiny. She saw Jaune's unconcerned look over the short girls' head.

Neo raised a hand and without turning to Jaune and simply crossed her fingers at him, gripped her hand and then raised two fingers side by side.

"Penny's my new partner."

Neo smiled at Penny before she turned to Jaune and gasped at him and tapped her chest in mock concern.

"I can't afford you every time I need something."

Neo simply raised a suggestive eyebrow at him.

Jaune looked to the ceiling. "Yes, I realized how bad that sounded as soon as I said it. Shut up."

Penny watched as Neo seemed pleased at that. Penny knew she did not understand most of what was going on between the two. For the rest of their chat, Penny followed the woman's hands as she continued to communicate with Jaune. It was enough of a distraction that the long walk down the hallway passed by quickly. The group stopped in front of the double doors.

Neo turned to them both and smiled with a silent exhale. Neo squared up towards Jaune with a serious but thankful look. She touched her lips with her fingers and down to her other hand she mouthed the words _Thank you_. She raised two thumbs and pointed them both at her self then clasped her hands together.

Jaune stayed silent but patted her shoulder. When she turned to open the door, he said, "I'm happy for you both. Your job isn't easy."

Neo smiled over her shoulders and walked in. The double doors illuminated the hallway with a warm soft light.

"How are you doing Jaune?" A mellow voice greeted them as they walked in.

Penny observed the man with the orange hair that matched her own and a bowler hat. A cigar had just been put out but the smoke was still heavy in the air. He beckoned for the two of them to sit across from him on the couch.

"I've been good Roman. This is Penny Polendina. My new partner."

"A pleasure little lady." The man tipped his hat to Penny as she joined Jaune on the couch. "What do you need from the both of us?"

"Just a heads up and a quick few questions for Neo." Jaune pulled out a folder from the small backpack that laid against his back and set it down on the coffee table. Jaune leaned forward as he pushed the folder towards Roman. He kept his hand firmly on the folder and looked up to Roman. "I am starting an investigation into the families."

Roman lost his smile. His silence put Penny on edge. She looked over to Neo who's friendly smile was gone. Romans' voice dipped dangerously low. "Is. That. So?"

Jaune ignored the tone and opened a folder. "I assume you have heard the talk of revolt."

Roman's hat raised slightly to meet Jaune's eyes. Penny watched as the two seemed to stare each other down. Eventually Roman looked down at the folder. "I see." His voice turned more jovial, "I had wondered if they were always like that. If they were, they would all be bark and no bite. Not a good way to do business."

Jaune seemed to finally relax. "They were not like that months ago."

Neo tapped Roman's shoulder with her hand. He raised a finger to calm her. "I haven't seen this guy while I was on my rounds. But I'll push the picture around my crew." Roman took out his scroll and took a picture. "Neo? Have you seen this guy on our outings?"

The woman shook her head and tried to pull the picture off to see what was behind it. Jaune placed his hand on top of the picture. Neo backed off with a pout.

"As of right now it is just an investigation." Jaune raised his hands to show both in a surrender and moved back from the table. "An assessment. But I have a feeling we will bump heads sooner rather than later now that I am actively looking to speak with the families."

Jaune stood up from his bent over position. Penny blinked as she realized that Jaune had not sat on the couch at all during their chat. He had been bent over on his haunches. As if ready to defend himself. She mentally shook her head. He had been leaning forward. He was ready to attack Roman. Jaune thought they were in genuine danger if he had to coil himself like a spring as he explained everything to mercenary.

Roman nodded with a grunt and pulled out a pen and wrote a note. He handed it to Neo who stepped out to pass it along. "I'll make the necessary clauses in my contracts moving forward. Last thing I want is for my men to fight you to the death due to some poor wording. The families would be amused, but I would not." There was a silent look between Roman and Neo as she left the room.

Penny blinked unsure if she heard that right. Now she understood. "Oh…" She looked over to Roman who simply winked at her. "Sorry. I was not sure…" She felt herself clam up. What do you say without giving anything away?

"It's fine Penny. I brought you here blind. I'll explain a few things when we get back to Beacon. But I did bring Penny here so you would know her face too Roman."

"Patrolman?" Roman asked, a surprised lit to his voice. It sounded almost… hopeful.

Jaune shook his head no.

Roman stood and sighed. He walked over to the wall and opened a cabinet to pour himself a drink. "You're not making this easy for me Jaune. If my men are going to be entering a shit show. I would like to know what it is."

"The man in the picture is Arthur Watts. He was the man who orchestrated the grim invasion. Hopefully Neo could shed some light on that for us."

Penny watched as the man drank a long draught and looked at the cabinet mirror at them both. Apparently the mirror gave him a perfect angle to watch the both of them. "What does Neo have to do with this?"

"She worked for someone that made contact with White Wolf on my first case. Arthur Watts sold tech to her a long time ago."

"Why does that matter now?"

Jaune frown and said, "The grim were weaponized for the invasion. I need to make sure that hasn't found its way into White Wolf's hands."

Penny stirred at the news and thought about the black hearts. She was not able to collect a lot of data. But she knew for a fact that there was no external nor internal components to the hearts that were man made. It was a pure grim mass. She almost stated that fact when she saw Jaune stare back at her. Penny felt like she was rebuked before she even uttered a syllable. It silenced her immediately.

"Shit." Roman sighed out after another long drink.

"My thoughts exactly." Jaune offered.

"We'll wait for her then, she shouldn't be too much longer. I did want to thank you by the way."

"For what?"

Roman simply gestured to the room. "It's been close to ten years since I've been able to have an office, regular hours, hell, I have applicants from the live huntsmen. They already know what we are about. But the publicity was enough to get some on the fence to join."

"That's good to hear. Business is good then?"

Penny watched as the two continued to banter. She wrung her hands. Penny was not sure how Jaune could be so relaxed in what is essentially enemy territory. These are the people that protect the families. How did the council approve of them being in the open?

Penny stilled as an arm draped over her shoulder and a brown and pink head poked into her vision. The woman named Neo's eyes shifted color then smiled widely at her. Now that she knew what they were, Neo's closeness brought a slew of alarms. "Yes?"

Neo pointed at her and tapped her temple with a hand that fanned out with waving fingers before she pointed a finger at her face.

"I think so. It's contextual right?"

Neo pulled away to clap before she hugged Penny again and looked over the red hair's shoulders to Jaune and Roman. She gave the pair a questioning look.

Both Roman and Jaune immediately answered, "No." They looked at each other in surprise.

Jaune waved her hand at Neo to shoo her away from Penny. "Sorry Neo, you can't keep her. I actually have questions for you." Jaune said while he pulled back his folder and closed it.

Penny watched as Neo left her side to stand next to her boss. Neo did not seem to be bothered in the least by the sudden distance and continued to talk to Penny.

Penny listened to Jaune but watched as Neo raised one finger before it went to two. She then gripped per elbows and smirked at Penny. Penny forcefully relaxed her shoulders. Then turned away from Neo. The Atlas soldier had a distinct feeling Neo was laughing at her.

"Neo. During the defense Penny here found the source of the grim. A black mass that beat like a heart and oozed black ink. Have you ever heard of anything like that before?"

Neo tilted her head but shook it in a negative. She tapped her arm with one hand then ran one hand open palm across the other then shook her head one more time.

"You just been out of touch or did business change?"

Neo gave an annoyed huff and ran a finger across her through and gestured to the ground.

"Not since the last mercenaries?" Jaune frowned as he asked more because he was unsure what she meant rather than understanding what she said.

"I can answer that Jaune." Roman started to cut in to the conversation. "The Cin family had a sudden interest in arms dealing a year and a half ago. He started muscling out any weapon dealer in Vale. The families still talk about how weird it was since there has been a popular movement going away from guns to aura users. Export regulations are really tough for Vale, Atlas and Vacuo. Aura users used to be expensive to hire. It was also rare to keep one loyal. They have become cheaper now compared to importing weapons and parts for a full army."

"Are aura users that popular here in Vale?"

Roman laughed. "Oh no. Beacon does a great job in managing things like that. Invites only go out to those who are almost guaranteed to pass. Those who fail get assistance to go into a vocational school if the kids want to give up completely. Or they can try again the next year. Now that I'm here, I'll be picking up the dropouts thank you very much. An aura user is an aura user. The aura users in the families are actual family members if they had the ability."

Jaune pulled out a pad and wrote a quick note for himself. "Thank you for the help. I just wanted to keep you updated. Neither of us like surprises."

Roman nodded as Jaune finally stood up. Penny followed his example. Penny did a slight bow. Roman's voice dripped honey, "We're not the only one. Your girl Penny there seemed to not like them either. That's fairly cruel of you Jaune."

Jaune tilted his head to Penny in a silent apology. "She will have to get used to it. Better we discover how she reacts here than in front of the families where we will both be going in blind."

Roman grinned. "Well have a fine day discovering all there is in Vale little lady. I've discovered there are plenty of attractions when you look for them."

Penny stood up and bowed slightly to prevent herself from saluting. "It was a pleasure to meet you both."

Neo waved at her before she waved a hand in front of her nose. She quickly scowled at her boss. Roman had re-lit his cigar.

After a long puff, Roman called after them. "I look forward to seeing you on the other side of the fence Jaune."

Penny felt more than saw Jaune make a non-committal wave. The door closed behind them. It was only then did Jaune exhaled quietly. He started to walk down the hall in silence. At the end of the passage a mercenary in a suit stood senty to open the door to allow them to exit the building. Penny wanted answers and Jaune seemed to shake his head one more time. "Sorry Penny." He said quietly. "Once we are out of here and back in Beacon I'll explain everything. But we have one more stop before we can go back."

Penny looked at her watch. It was already mid day. "Food?" she hazard a guess.

"I wouldn't want to eat where we are going." Jaune said tightly.

-o-

Penny looked at the sign and recognized the name of the information broker Jaune mentioned that morning. The men standing at the door with axes and red shades nodded subtly to Jaune as Jaune walked in. Penny quickly followed after when she noticed she lagged behind.

Two women immediately walked to the door to greet them. The one in a white dress welcomed the pair. "Welcome back Jaune. I was wondering where you have been. You stopped coming since..."

The woman in red smiled at Penny. "Been busy then?"

Jaune frowned. "You know, you're not even the third person today that has implied that. This is Penny Polendina. My new partner."

"I'm Miltia. This is Melanie. Junior is free if you wanted to speak with him."

"Yes Please." Jaune thanked the girls.

Penny followed Jaune quietly as they made their way down the third floor hallway and into a room. The place looked more like a hotel to the young soldier. When they entered the room, Penny spotted an office desk and console screen open. A pot of coffee sat quietly in the corner but the room had the smell of the fresh brew.

"Jaune. Take a seat. Girls. Clear the floor."

Jaune sat and waited for Junior to signal it was safe to talk. Miltia walked in and gave the go ahead.

Junior looked to the patrolman. "Are either of you actively using aura right now?"

Jaune shook his head but looked to Penny. She shook her head. "I am not Mr. Junior."

The man was tense but almost relaxed at Mr. Junior. "I wanted to make sure before I do this. Less eavesdroppers this way." Junior's shades flashed a deep red. A moment later the room was saturated in red light. "Sorry I needed to make sure nothing like aura was listening in. Velt let me in on what you were going to do."

Jaune sighed. "I am going to need an introduction. Which would be the better option? The woman who held the students hostage or the Cin family?"

"The Cin family would do you no good. They are out of the circle completely." Junior said. He walked around the table and sighed in disappointment. "The fool of a boy messed up the tithe. He won't live long now."

Penny was not sure how she felt at the casual mention that someone was about to die. She tried to look to Jaune to see how he felt but his back was turned away from her and ramrod straight. "That leaves the woman that held the hostages. Can you confirm or deny if she is a family head?"

"Sorry Jaune. I can't."

"How about an introduction?"

"I'll let you know when if she is willing." Junior said quietly. "No guarantees."

Jaune sighed. "It's fine. It just means that I need to start looking for other options."

Juniors' laugh was fatalistic. "Just keep me out of it."

"You'll be seeing us more. If we can't get a meeting… I'll need to find my self made available to them. That means I'll need to have some information leaked. If I can make one come to me I may have something I can work with. I don't like the idea of letting this lay."

"Just be careful not to sell yourself Jaune. If you do, I can't help you."

Jaune nodded as he stood up and gesture for Penny to stand as well. "We'll be on our way. Let me know if they would like to speak with us."

The red saturated lights blinked out of existence. Junior took off his shades. "Good luck."

-o-

Penny followed Jaune out of the club. Jaune looked around the street corner. This early in the day, it was barren of people. Over his shoulder Jaune asked, "Hungry? We got things to talk about."

Penny nodded. "Is it safe to start talking now?"

Jaune visibly flinched and turned back to her. "Crap. I'm sorry Penny. Is that why you were so quiet?"

Penny chirped, "You asked me to keep my questions to Beacon. I took the time to just listen."

Penny watched as her partner frowned and nodded. He added guiltily, "Let's head back and get some lunch. I can explain a few general things over a meal."

Penny felt herself beam. "That would be swell!"

-o-

Penny walked around Jaune's apartment. It only had a few things decorating it to keep her curiosity sated. One was a picture of his very large family. Another picture was of Jaune when he was very young, no more than twelve, with two older men standing together in a group portrait. Each wore matching blue vests. There were two other pictures, one with Jaune when was a few years older than the last picture. Jaune and a woman struck matching poses, legs apart, one hand on their hip and another over their head in salute with their hands making a 'v' for victory sign. He was really smiling in that one. The other picture was more intimate. Jaune looked closer to his current age. His hands were around the woman's hips and they were both smiling at eachother.

Penny started to walk around the apartment but did not see anything else of interest to look at. The rest of the apartment was empty but for the furniture. Jaune apparently had a large family unit he did not feel inclined to fill.

From the kitchen Jaune called, "Have you gotten word about your apartment yet?"

Penny opened her scroll but there were no messages on the new scroll. "None."

"We got some time. Here you go, soup like you asked." Jaune answered as he walked out of the kitchen with two plates. Penny took the plate as it scratched across the wooden table. The meal was a medium bowl of potato soup. "Thank you." Penny said gratefully. Soup was the closest to what she could ingest with no problems. She was not sure how her body would handle a sandwich he offered.

"Was the job not what you were expecting?" Jaune asked around a spoon of soup.

Penny smiled apologetically. "Being assigned to a new mission was not what I expected when I came to Vale. Command had been pretty strict for a few years now. It was rare for me to be given agency like I have now."

Jaune took a bite of his sandwich. He exhaled a relieved sigh that comes from people she observed that enjoyed food. "I am sorry about the confusion in Vale, Penny. Do you have any major questions you want answered first?"

Penny tilted her head. She had plenty of questions but the main one she wanted to ask was, "How can you lie so easily?"

Jaune suppressed a cough and took a sip of water. "Not the question I was expecting." Jaune cleared his throat and took another long drink. "My main goal today was to gain information. l don't know what your duties will be in Atlas but I need to lie pretty often. For this case, I need information while I withheld my own."

Penny's eyebrows furrowed. "But without complete information how could people come to the right conclusion? If the families knew the danger they would stop right?" Penny reasoned.

Jaune shook his head. "If everyone was that reasonable there would be a lot less problems. Less grim actually. Right now there is a lot of bad blood between individual families. You heard how the Cin family leader will probably die this week. There is nothing we can do about it either. I lied because I don't trust anyone with our information. It could put us in danger. Especially when I do not know how others would react."

Penny nodded. "Understood Sir." Penny accepted the answer but she felt like so many other times, she did not understand.

Jaune pushed his plate a way for a second. "No 'sir'. You are my partner now Penny. Not my subordinate. If you are not convinced, let me know. If you are curious, always ask. When I omit information or willfully lie to someone, it is necessary for someone's protection. I will always have my reasons for lying Penny. If you are worried about why I lied, think about it and talk to me. You will need to start thinking like this too. I am sure there will be a time when you will need to start lying to protect someone."

Penny looked at her bowl. Guilt seemed to kill any willingness to pretend to eat. "I-"

"People are brought up to see being honest is a good thing. It is for the most part. I am not here to make you question your morality or honesty." Penny looked up at the look Jaune gave her. His eyes looked right into hers and he leaned back and smiled. "I don't feel guilty if I have to lie to protect someone Penny. Whether you feel the same in the future or never, it is perfectly fine either way."

Penny stirred her soup spoon idle. She set it down and sighed. "Alright Jaune. So why did you lie to the Mercenaries?"

Jaune hummed before he answered. "At the Torchwick Mercenaries, I lied because I needed to know if Roman had met Watts. Or if he was already hired by someone who was working with the man. Toman said he did not see our man, but if Roman was in a contract, could not tell me. So I had to find ways to make sure. Roman showed true surprise when he was shown the picture and what the man did. Did you see how Neo was gone in time for Roman to ask what I needed from her?"

"He gave her something to do to get her out of the room." Penny recalled.

"He wanted to make sure I would not ask anything that was sensitive to one of their current contracts. As soon as he knew for sure, Neo walked in."

Jaune picked up his spoon and ate some soup to let the information float in both of their heads. Penny copied him. Penny felt the silence was a lot more companionable now. Penny looked up when Jaune resumed.

"When I first spoke to Roman privately, he confessed that he just wanted to survive. Now that Roman has a company that can work legally, he will bend over backwards when he is able to keep that spot. You saw how both Neo and Roman expressed a thank you? They were reminding us what they have at stake."

Penny started to understand. "That was why the Council allowed him to work out in the open despite working for the families."

Jaune smiled when she followed his line of thinking. "Roman will always have an invested interest in Vale now. There was no price too expensive to pay for that. If a fight breaks out and we fight the families we will have to fight the Torchwick Mercenaries. I want to avoid that at all costs."

"Why is that?"

Jaune nodded in approval of her question. Penny sat up straighter at the encouragement. "If the Torchwick Mercenaries are caught on the wrong side of this, they will need to fight both of us. They are under the assumption I am working for Vale under this investigation. They do not want to make themselves an enemy of Vale just after they gained Vale's approval." Jaune smiled at Penny's surprised look. Jaune never mentioned who he worked for during any visit. "That leaves Roman in a tough spot. If he steps aside during a fight, he will lose all credibility to the families. You did not see what could happen without the mercenaries. They keep the families in check since one family could potentially insult another. One family nearly started a riot in Junior's for their amusement. Any mercenary group would have stopped that before it escalated."

"They started a fight against each other?" Penny asked. She wondered if that would be useful later.

"No, against Beacon students. A few huntsmen happened to be on the lower levels as well and rose to the girls protection. It started a standoff that ended with a few minor injuries and the girls held hostage. I was called in by Junior before the Vale PD attempted to contact me."

"But you resolved the problem peacefully." Penny offered. Now she could see why he was requested to speak to the Families if he could resolve their issues diplomatically.

Jaune's mouth formed a flat line across his face. "You don't understand how close we were to an actual fight Penny. Had anyone made a wrong move, the huntsmen would have come down on Juniors. It was like… " Jaune frowned and set his spoon down.

Penny said quietly, "If the families were looking at their odds of surviving an uprising they would want to know how you would respond." Penny pushed her own plate away, bowl now empty.

Jaune sighed and rubbed his head. "And they got it. That means we'll need to tread carefully if the woman decides she wants to meet with us."

"Do you think it's a good idea to still see her?"

"The woman I want to see seemed more to have been interested in the students than anything else. It is her companions that seemed ready to fight. Were not going to be able to do any kind of observational work. The families do not _have_ to spend their time at Junior's to conduct business. It was just convenient for them. No, we'll actually need to talk this one out."

-o-

Penny bit her lip as she walked back to position. She raised her fists and watched as Jaune walked up to her and extended a fist. Penny tilted her head to dodge and punched with her right then hook with her left as she stepped forward. She felt Jaune's hands tapped her elbow and shoulder of her hook before she felt her limb was tugged on. Jaune gripped and leaned into Penny's hook and used her arm as a beam to swing around her and kick the back of her knee. Her knee bent slightly from the hit as her aura and body clanged against his steel-toe shoe. Penny's footing remained firm. She swung her arm wide to push him off. Jaune vaulted off her back and landed several feet back before she could touch him.

Jaune frowned. "You will be fighting people that have no aura Penny." He reminded her. "You're going to have to do better than that. That kind of careless swing will kill them."

Penny stopped with her palm fully extended. She nodded as she stood up straight and got back into position.

Penny had been at this training for a while now. She had never needed to restrain her hits before. The fine control Penny needed was not something as simple as reducing the force of a blow. Her whole body ran on aura. Every movement was suffused with it. If Penny simply let her arm drop, she could still destroy a desk just from the aura reinforcement.

Penny found that she had to learn how to manually lower her output with every movement. She listened to Jaunes' sharp critique and tried again. It was difficult.

Jaune raised his hand to stop after another quick exchange. "We'll keep this practice going later. I need to rest before we have an accident. You weren't joking about that stamina training."

Penny looked at her internal clock and realized they had been training that evening for over five hours. When she looked at him she realized his shirt was soaked through with sweat. "Ah. Sorry Jaune. I did not realize it was this late."

The patrolman waved her off as he grabbed a towel and panted into it. His quickly removed his shirt and dried himself off before he pulled on the Patrolman jersey and threw the soaked rag that was his shirt over his shoulder. "Not a problem. I needed the training. Real training. I haven't had a work out like that since I moved here. So thanks. Let's try a different approach tomorrow if you are having difficulty making the adjustment. If you are that experienced with your aura, you probably unlocked your aura very early. Right?"

Penny scratched her head as she looked at her own body. The movement barely exerted any effort other than a mental one. She could sweat, but this exercise hardly taxed her. When she realized Jaune had spoken to her she thought aloud. "I am not sure I remember a time that I did not have aura." Penny looked away half expecting a hiccup to crawl up. She huffed in annoyance when nothing happened.

"Alright then. Did you get an update about your apartment?"

Penny pulled open her scroll and nodded. "It was an hour late but I did. That's a relief. My support team from Atlas had theirs for a few hours now. I will stop by and speak to them before I retire."

Jaune nodded. "Alright. I will have something put together for the both of us for tomorrow. I want you to get a handle on fighting non aura users as quickly as possible. The case is on hold until we get a response from Junior and you wanted some training with working with huntsmen. We'll start that in the morning. Good night Penny."

"Night Jaune!" Penny waved as she started to walk away towards the complex her staff were housed. She looked at the tall building. This far away from the main campus left the building to have its own defensive wall. She walked past the opened gate and down the path to the hangar. Inside, a man and woman were quickly working on a platform.

"Good evening!" Penny said to announce herself.

"Hello Ma'am." They both stood and saluted. "The work platform is almost assembled."

Penny smiled and looked at raised floor. "Thank you very much. May I have one of you help me with my scroll? I want an internal link established. But this is a little before my time."

The woman stood up. "I can do it tomorrow afternoon. Your communication network is a little more advanced than a scrolls."

Penny shook her head. "I am sorry I need it by tonight incase I am summoned."

The two officers paused and the woman volunteer. "I'll adjust it now."

Penny watched as the warrant officer quickly connected Penny's assigned scroll to a terminal as if there was no obstacle at all. "Was there anything else?"

Penny resisted the urge to sigh. It was not the first time someone tried to hurry through interacting with her. It was the same wherever she went. As a combat droid she was given instant deferment from lower ranks and near cautious optimism from the upper ranks. Penny reached out and took the scroll feeling every meter of distance as she took the scroll from the woman's outstretched hand.

"Thank you, and I would like to look at my fine control. My partner said we will be skirmishing with non-aura users. I will need better control to disarm an auraless opponent."

The two warrant officers exchanged glances. "Pardon me for asking ma'am, but isn't it a little over kill to send you here to fight people with no aura?"

Penny frowned at the question. She very nearly gave the reason for their stay out of habit. But Jaune was right. They did not need to know. She still wanted to give an answer and took a moment to formulate a reply. She checked her scroll before she closed it. Immediately she opened it to find she had started a draft message to Jaune as a test. Satisfied she could make commands to the scroll while it was closed, Penny finally said, "Anyone is dangerous if they are desperate enough Warrant Officer. Are you able to help with fine motor controls, or is the platform the priority?"

"I can try Ma'am but those kinds of controls were not something kept in mind when you were designed."

Penny nodded. "I am well aware of that Warrant Officer." Both of the aids lowered their heads and cringed at the flat reply.

"Yes Ma'am. Sorry, Ma'am." They both said quickly.

"Just focus on the platform then. I will retire for the night."

Penny sighed once she was inside her personal bed chamber. The room was large with a chair for her to rest, a bed was added more because Beacon was not aware she did not sleep on one, and a desk for her to work with pen and paper. The box of wardrobe she purchased that morning sat on the bed. Penny smiled. There were a few surprises she was not prepared for with Jaune Arc. But the shopping and chat with Bernadette was something Penny had secretly hoped for.

 _If I could find more moments like that. More time to feel like a human being._ Penny smiled at the mirror that hung against the closet door. "Vale would be a nice place to visit."

-o-

Jaune walked to the infirmary and wondered how he would handle his little Penny problem. He never once thought about her ability to fight. She could slay grim and survive the most hostile environment he had ever heard of. It was exactly that strength that had him grimacing when he reached for the door handle to the infirmary. "Hey June are you free?"

The doctor poked her head out from behind an open supply door. "Evening Jaune, you're out late. What do you need?"

Jaune pulled off his gloves and forearm protectors. He hissed as the last part came off. "I need some of that numbing lotion."

June inspected his forearms for the dots of bruises that covered them. Clinically she asked, "Anywhere else?"

"Lower thigh on above the left knee. My new partner is a good sparring partner but has no fine control for her aura. A few hits got a little too close with her full aura."

June went to one of the many cabinets. For just bruises at full aura the hits must have been millimeters from the skin. Anything further would have been serious damage. "Why didn't you call off the training right after the first hit?"

Jaune scratched his head at the scolding. "It has been a while since I sparred with a huntsmen to that degree. I was shaking off rust the first few rounds. The real bad ones were the newest when Penny started to change how she fought suddenly. Nearly broke my arm to that one."

"Does she know?"

"She knows she needs to regulate her aura. But the way she has been using it feels different. Don't know how to describe it. It doesn't move around her body like everyone else's. But she must have a lot of it to have fought the grim for so long during the defense. So maybe that is just normal for her."

June smeared the lotion across the bruised skin and started to wrap his forearms and upper arms a few inches past the elbow. "The lotion will help keep the swelling and bruising down, but those won't heal for a few more days. Come back tomorrow morning for me to reapply it."

Jaune sighed as he realized. "I should have bathed first."

June patted the teen. "Sorry Jaune. Keep those on until tomorrow morning."

Jaune agreed as he walked out of the clinic. He looked at his scroll and sighed. He still wanted to talk to Coco. But after the small introductions that morning, he had to prepare a lot of things for Penny.

-o-

Penny stood up from her chair and stretched. It was finally daylight and she had to report to Jaune Arc's office in an hour. Her two maintenance workers had been quiet outside her room, but she could tell they were working since the early hours of the morning.

The two warrant officers immediately saluted her. It felt odd to salute them back without her uniform on. She had spent the first few hours that morning being bored. The boredom was only resolved when Penny decided to go through the clothing she purchased and tried them on. It was a novelty that had occupied her for the better part of the morning until it was time to go.

 _Speaking of novelties…_ Penny looked at the porridge in her bowl. Her spoon raised and the… slop fell in globs off her spoon. Penny did not have to eat, but the doctor had insisted that it is an exercise that she should get used to. Especially if she wanted to experience the human normalcy she desired.

Penny ate another spoonful and swallowed. A sense of taste was one of the more nuanced things that the doctor could not design well. Penny knew by analyzing her food what it should taste like. And she does have a sensation when she does eat food. But it was as nebulous as asking her if she thought flowers smelled nice. They smelled, she could describe how many particles per thousand were from the flower to get an idea of how strong the smell was, but that was it.

Penny finished the porridge and washed her bowl. Once out the door she quickly left such thoughts of taste and smell behind. The doctor assured her that she would eventually come to understand those sensations she analyzed, but it would only come with experience.

Several hours later Penny stood at attention as the small aircraft prepared for take off. Despite not having the uniform, Penny found it impossible not to salute the General.

General Ironwood returned the salute. "We look forward to seeing the results of your training Miss Polendina."

Penny radiated a vibrant smile. "I will sir! Have a safe flight."

The First Lieutenant saluted her as well with a brief sharp nod. "Take care Penny. I look forward to hear how your training experience went."

"Thank you very much Winter." Penny grinned and stood on her toes in excitement before she dropped back to flat feet adn lowered her hand.

Jaune and Ozpin shared quick words with the General before the man and his group boarded the ship and took off.

Penny was reminded they had work to do when Jaune quickly ran up to her. "We got to go Penny. Landing pad seven. The students are waiting for us."

Penny broke into a quick jog until they arrived at the designated bullhead. The students ships were waiting for take off. Penny walked inside the teachers bullhead and sat down. Glynda walked in behind the two in a slow measured pace.

"These patrols may not be needed anymore Penny but they were such a big success for training the students that Glynda and Ozpin have decided to continue them. Towards the end of the year if you are still around, you will see the second years join and mix with the third years so they get some experience."

Penny nodded as she looked out of the window to the forest below. The lush green leaves had turned bright gold color. It was nearly two hours when Jaune's scroll blipped to life.

" _Team Navy clear!_ "

Jaune slowed in seconds. Penny jumped and landed heavily against a tree to halt her progress. The leaves swayed against their branches and fell from the impact. Penny reflexively flinched and gently patted the tree in an apology.

"Acknowledged. Team Tansy, Team Pearl?" Jaune asked into his scroll.

Jaune pulled out a map and gestured to each of the teams approximate location for Penny. Several minutes passed as the second and third teams confirmed the completed their sweeps. "See these markings here Penny? This is where we found the makings of a nest. But it was cleared out before the grim got a foothold. You'll find similar nodes when your teams do a sweep in Atlas. We had two scouting parties sweep the surrounding area before we cleared it. The last thing we wanted was for the grim's numbers suddenly surge in mid combat."

Penny nodded. "What's this marking for?"

Jaune looked at small hook mark that was scribbled on the paper map. "It's a marker I had used for some equipment I left out in the field. Thanks for reminding me. I really should go pull those back in. They were a net cast out to see if any scroll signals would be picked up by the White Fang but they never did catch anything." Jaune admitted. He ignored the embarrassed flush to his cheeks.

Penny hummed and nodded. "The scrolls in Atlas have a longer range due to the tower's size. But we are surrounded by mountains. I will make a note of those extenders and remind you again later."

Jaune laughed before he looked at his scroll. "The teams are making their way back to the bull heads. Let's head back."

Penny nodded and looked around one final time for their own sweep of the south. They had traveled the furthest from the bullheads.

On the way back to Beacon, Penny knew they entered scroll connectivity because Jaune's scroll beeped at him. Jaune gave Glynda an apologetic look for interrupting her work and looked at the message. Penny stayed silent until they were off the bullhead. Something was wrong. Jaune had stopped smiling and had been staring at the screen since he received the message.

Not even two steps off the bullhead Jaune walked ahead. "Penny, let's go see the headmaster. Glynda have a good day. Penny and I may not make it for this afternoons or even tomorrows sweep."

Glynda looked up from her own scroll. Jaune's face had been pinched and he looked tired. Glynda closed her scroll and adjusted her glasses. "I will have someone to cover for you. Don't worry about it."

Jaune started to walk away. "Let's go Penny. And thank you Glynda."

Penny started to follow along side Jaune but turned around when the blonde professor called out. "Good luck."

Jaune had kept walking and tossed a hand over his shoulder in goodbye. Penny scrambled to catch up. "What's happening?"

"I have a reply from Junior. It's not just the woman, it's all of the families. They have requested my presence tonight."

-o-

Ozpin clicked his cane while he thought about it. "I could mobilize the huntsmen again."

Jaune released a nervous laugh. "I don't want to give them a reason to feel threatened Ozpin. Penny will be the one to send a message if we need to organize the huntsmen. The families saw how we reacted last time. If they were trying to start an uprising, it's better to make sure everything we have is on reserve and not wiped at the first fight. It will be just me and Penny. We are due at Juniors tonight. Can I get a limo to give me and Penny a long run around into the city? There are things I need to share with her to catch up and not much time."

Ozpin walked up to his desk. "You will have it. Are you going now?"

"Yeah. I don't know when we'll be back. Can you make arrangements for me?"

Ozpin paused at the terminal and looked up. "You don't have to do this."

Jaune smiled and put his hands in his pockets. "Yes I do. I need to make sure or Vale will have this uncertainty hanging over their heads."

Ozpin lowered his gaze to the console. "Of course." It sounded more of a self rebuke to himself to Penny's ears.

Jaune patted Penny's shoulder. "I'll explain once we are in the car Penny. I am sorry."

-o-

Uncertainty of the unknown. Penny had decided _that_ was what made her feel a hint of nervousness. This apprehension only increased inside the car as the glass separator from the driver to the back was sealed shut.

Jaune opened his scroll. "Sorry Penny, you are about to get a crash course in everything I know about the Families."

"Why now?" Penny asked while she opened her scroll to match his. Immediately he had started to transfer files.

"The families only asked for me. I want you to stay hidden for as long as possible. If the families are asking for me, I am not too confident about what they want from me. I am hoping they want to play ball and just finish this as quickly as possible but I am not expecting it."

Jaune sighed and ran slightly shaking hand through his hair. It was the first time Penny saw any kind emotion about their impending arrival. "The families are more than just criminals, they are old families with old money and they are bored. At least one on the Council is the head of such a family. They are the super wealthy that run cartels and conglomerates. If the Watts had contacted one of them, it would be impossible for us to find them. We need the families to find them for us."

Penny followed along the explanation. "That's why you wanted to see that one person who took the students?"

"Yeah. I need to look for changes in the families. The Cin family for example. If I could get ahold of them. It's a foot in the door. Why did the last head take such a huge risk? Who would stand to benefit? Were there other families who had something similar or had avoided disaster like the Cin? If the families are asking to see me. Someone is pushing them."

"Could the families eliminate you?"

Jaune gave a tight lipped nod. "And they are powerful enough to have the police ignore it. Ozpin may have the option to retaliate but he doesn't want a war in Vale either. Which leads to you."

Penny shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Me?"

"If I don't come back out. It's up to you to keep the investigation going. You have resources. I wish I could do more." Jaune looked at the entrance the car passed through. It took a while, but they were finally in the city. He gestured to a file he sent over the scroll. "This is everything I have on me about Watts that Ironwood passed along. The rest of the data I collected is in my room. I have a back up scroll in my nightstand I made sure it was uptodate this morning."

"You know this would happen?" Penny eyes widened.

"Not this. But Roman gave us a warning as we left. He knew we were going to meet again soon. I needed to make sure you had everything incase the worst happens."

The car halted. Penny looked at Jaune who nearly gasped at the lurch. Jaune quickly took his scroll back. "Just a second Penny." Jaune looked at the time and shook his head. "Classes would be going right now." Jaune looked at his scroll as the picture of the woman stared back at him. Jaune cleared his throat and inhaled. He started speaking with a warm calming voice. "Hey Coco! Sorry I missed you. I've been called away for a mission. Don't know the details yet. I just wanted to say I'll be out of touch! I love you." Jaune closed the scroll and stared at it. "Stay in the car Penny. I'll ask Junior or his girls to come out and keep you updated. If it's midnight. Go back to Beacon. Inform Ozpin. But the case is yours."

Penny nodded. It was not the same as crisis management she was trained for in the event of a grim attack. This was all new territory. "What if I do the wrong thing? Or mess up?"

Jaune smiled. "I could have only gotten this far because of our support team. Ask for help. Ozpin or the staff. Hell, even Junior if you can get the money. People will work with you so long as you ask questions."

Jaune looked at the door handle and grabbed it. "Hopefully this is just a scare. You can make fun of me for being dramatic later." Jaune smiled as if it was a bad joke.

"Good luck Jaune." Penny muttered as he got out. Penny watched as he closed the door behind him then disappeared inside.

-o-

Jaune walked inside. He had not worn his patrolman jersey for the for the sweep in the forest. Since Vale would not call him any time, he felt it was pointless to wear it. He wished he stopped to pick it up. He felt naked without his old destroyed hoodie, he felt powerless without his jersey walking into this den. The sisters flanked him to the elevator. No one said a word as the elevator went up to the fourth floor. The floor bled red light the moment the doors began to open.

Jaune almost asked if he was late, but the question was killed before it touched his tongue. The halls felt longer with the red light. It muted sound as much as it suppressed aura. The double doors at the end of the hallway opened for him. Inside was a high ceiling ballroom. It must have taken up at least half of the building's floor space. Jaune wondered if this was where Roman and the families went on Roman's first night at Juniors.

Junior sat arms crossed against the wall. A chair and five men in black suits and red ties stood at attention. Each armed with an axe. The pairing of Junior's semblance and their axes made more sense now that he saw them together. Huntsmen do wear armor. Dust rounds would be useless against that, aura or no. Hence the axes.

Jaune looked around to the arranged tables. Like a ball room dinner indeed. Tableware had been cleaned and quiet conversations were being made. The twins walked forward and in perfect sync called, "Announcing Beacon's Patrolman, Jaune Arc."

Jaune never felt more like a teenager than he did now. He showed up in simple civilian clothes. The only thing that identified him as a patrolman were the gloves and forearm protectors. The bandages under those chafed him against his bruised skin.

"Good evening. My presence was requested." Jaune said in greeting. He simply looked ahead. With so many people surrounding him in their seats. He could not tell who would have the power here. It was safer to look ahead than to focus on staring at anyone in particular. Especially if that person happened to be a nobody.

"Good evening Jaune." Jaune turned his head slightly. It was the woman who held the students hostage all those weeks ago.

"Good evening Lady." Jaune was escorted by the twins to a seat. Tables were cleared by servants with a single chair placed in the clearing. Jaune felt the twins hands rest on his shoulders to tell him to sit. It wasn't just him that was scared it seemed. Both of the girls tried their best to hide the tremor in their fingertips. That comforted him more than it should have. It reminded him that he had people in this room he needed to protect as well. _Just do your job_. He thought to himself in a mantra.

The woman smiled and stood up. "I, along with some concerned members asked for the patrolman. He had been asking questions that are close to violating the pact. I would ask he answer our questions in front of us all."

Jaune kept his eyes on the woman. Her own confident smirk waited for him to answer. Jaune cleared his throat. "The man responsible for the grim attack is named Arthur Watts. He infiltrated and guided the White Fang to attack Vale. I suspect he had tried something similar to the families."

Jaune looked around to the people in front of him. They had all stood a fair distance away from him in a circle. No one was set apart from the others like a leader or necessarily surrounded for protection like a family head.

The woman grinned. "Those are some heavy accusations." She looked over to someone who walked forward. A collaborator it seemed.

"What made you think that this Watts approached us?" The man asked. The woman frowned at her companion.

 _A different question than she was expecting._ Juane thought. The patrolman was thankful for that. He already had an idea how to frame what he learned. "After the grim attack, I started to look for names that could be linked to it. In the investigation I found several anomalies. Estates suddenly up for sale weeks prior to the attack and sold days before the attack happened. Companies moved out of Vale over the course of the last year. Normally it would be something I could dismiss. A simple interview would have been enough to rule those groups out. But the estates were all sold under one name. It was a broker that does not exist. There is no such office or company in Vale. No names were attached to the signed documents. The same happened with several estates. Sold with no previous owner though fully furnished. No company or agency brokered the deal for those properties. As soon as the purchase went through they disappeared. You understand why I would look to the families first?"

No one seemed surprised. Jaune was disappointed they were not concerned with the news either so he continued. "Which leads me to the other bit that had me looking into the families." Jaune looked around deliberately. He spotted Roman next to three men and a woman and Neo on the opposite side of the room with another small cluster of people. She was so short, he could only see the top of her head among the tall shoulders. Jaune smiled and looked back to the woman. "The changes in the families. What caused the Cin to collapse? About a year and a half ago, the White Fang started to infiltrate the Vale security system. Their original goal was to shut down the droids and draw grim into the city through the front door."

Jaune folded his hands together. These families were deadly silent. "What did the Cin head do? He tried to commandeer the arms ring in Vale and make it his own. He was killed for it. The attack on Vale didn't just happen. It had been planned for years. Right now. I am curious. Was the Cin family possibly the conspirators I was looking for? Or the only resistance Watts found."

The woman scowled. "Why contact me?" The woman didn't flinch, but Jaune could see that several people against the walls moved.

 _Ah,_ Jaune thought. _I put her in danger for just asking to meet her._ Now this whole thing made sense. She needed to make the meeting public to protect herself.

Jaune looked to the woman then to the back row of people to make sure they saw him follow them. They stilled. He smiled slightly at them before he looked back to the woman. "The first night I met you, you had several associates who had attempted to start a fight with the huntsmen." Jaune offered as an olive branch.

Jaune watched the mass of people. The woman seemed to go back to her group quickly to converse with them. The patrolman waited until she returned. The hostile glare the woman wore when she walked away was smoothed. Apparently she needed a moment to recompose herself.

"Since you are here, what is it you wanted to ask me?"

"I found it curious that the families, _any_ family would test the huntsmen and provoke Beacon. I can only see that as a test to see how Beacon would respond. How I would respond." Jaune stood up slowly. He turned around to look at the people that surrounded him. "I will be very clear with my intentions. The only enemy I am looking for are the ones that would try and destroy Vale. If I ever ask to see a member of a family it would only be for the safety of Vale."

"I've heard enough Priscilla. Thank you." The woman paused and nodded before she turned purposefully away from Jaune and walked back to the edge of people. Jaune looked to the older man. He was overweight and old. His suit jacket hung off his stomach and closed to two buttons below his belly. Grey and brown trimmed hair and short beard moved when he spoke. "Patrolman Arc. I would speak with you myself. Walk with me."

Jaune followed for a moment as the crowd returned to their conversations. Music began to play and tables were once again moved by servants to make room for the floor. Jaune ignored it all and walked next to the rounded man out of the ball room and into a small room. The red light never left the halls and even in this new room, Junior's semblance flushed the room with red light. It only marginally made Jaune feel safer.

"You have me at a disadvantage, sir." Jaune said as he took a seat at the man's waved hand to sit.

The man said matter of factly, "You would be dead if you knew who I was young patrolman."

Jaune swallowed slightly. This was more of what he was expecting when he first entered the ballroom. "Then I am relieved."

The man furrowed his brow. "I am sure you are. You said the Cin family could potentially provide a clue to what happened?"

Jaune nodded. "The time table for the White Fang starts about the same time as the Cin family head started to fight for control of the weapons cartel."

The man stewed at the information. "The Cin family has been liquidated. Only the extended family survives and only because I will it so. None of them were close to the head and none would have had information you would need."

Jaune sighed frankly. "It was a long shot at best. If I had the time before now I would have tried to speak with the family sooner."

The older man shook his head. "It was best that you didn't. You would have been seen as an associate. You would not have lived to have this conversation."

Jaune took the information at face value. "I still intend to look around the families for clues if the man Watts is still influencing the families."

"I will not stop you. The others though. They may take umbrage. I hope you are prepared for the consequences." The man's voice rumbled.

"So long as it's not the huntsmen, the pact will not be violated."

"A loophole. Some of us will not see the difference. That is my only warning."

"Thank you very much for it."

"Priscilla Aquila will be your contact among the families if you must talk with us. But only her."

Jaune blinked. "Thank you." Jaune had an awkward pause before he asked, "Who is Miss Aquila?"

The man smirked under his beard and mustache. "The girl you requested to speak to. A few people have given her a hard time for being apart of that fiasco with Beacon. This will be a good lesson."

Jaune stood up. "Thank you very much. If I may be excused?"

"You may leave Patrolman."

Jaune gave a slight bow and started to make his way to the door. One man stopped as he began to pull the door open. Jaune looked at the man who looked behind to the large leader. Jaune turned around to see the man eye him critically. "How far are you willing to protect Vale?"

-o-

Penny sat in limo for nearly five hours before she looked up at the clock. It was still twenty minutes to ten in the evening. "Driver, go ahead back to Beacon without us. We'll find our own way. Thank you for waiting for so long."

The man simply nodded with a, "Have a good evening miss."

Penny walked towards the club entrance and she inspected her dress and jacket. It wasn't too dressy for a club she hoped. There was no line this evening. She walked up to the bouncer who eyed her with skepticism. "You are a little young for this crowd girl."

Penny tilted her head in confusion. "Oh! Sorry." She pulled her scroll with her identification. It showed her as an employee of Beacon. She may look 16, but Beacon staff were treated like huntsmen.

The man frowned and pulled out a small metal bar. "Can you run your aura through this please?"

Penny nodded and extended finger. The bar glowed a warm red. The light disappeared as soon as she stopped. "Come on in, no cover needed." The bouncer stepped aside. "Have a good evening Miss Polendina."

Penny smiled brightly at him as she passed. Penny walked to the bar and took a seat. The bartender walked up. "What can I get for you Miss?"

"A water, I am waiting for someone." Penny looked at the elevator in explanation

The man frowned. "It is busy upstairs miss."

Penny smiled and pulled out her scroll. "I'll wait."

Wait she did. Penny watched the couples slow dance the night away. Not many Beacon students were there. It was mostly civilians who wanted to work off the stress of their day job. Many people began to disperse by a quarter to one in the morning. Penny just watched the dance floor as it slowly emptied. It looked fun. It was a pity she would never get the chance to dance. Not if she swung her arms like she did during her spar with Jaune.

The place was beginning to close down for the night as two in the morning passed. The bartender seemed fine waiting for her to leave. At one point as the couples were leaving he even offered to pass on a message. Penny found herself politely declining the offer. She needed to know what happened to Jaune.

The first sign Penny saw that she may see Jaune was the sudden activity at the elevator. It opened every few minutes to reveal richly dressed men and women walked out in small groups.

Penny sat by herself and watched as the upper level lights were slowly turned off. There was still no Jaune. That caused all sorts of emotions Penny was not familiar with to curdle in her stomach. She did not even know those could mix together at the same time.

Penny exhaled and looked over to the man on the other side of the table. "I would like to speak to Junior. Tell him Penny wants to know what happened to her friend." The bartender nodded and excused himself.

 _Some friend._ Penny cursed to herself. She followed instructions but she sorely wished she was able to do something other than just waiting. The elevator opened and the bartender walked up to her.

"Junior is ready to see you ma'am." The man led the way into the elevator and opened the box to send a call upstairs. The elevator clanked and then ascended. Penny walked out of the elevator into an office space. The door closed quietly behind her. An office room light lit one end of the hall at the end. The only other light was one that barely lit part of the hallway next to the elevator. Penny walked purposefully to see the twin women look up and step back from Junior's table. Junior was in the middle of drinking something that was dark as amber in his glass.

"Good morning. I have a message for you from Jaune."

"Is he alive?"

The twins shared a hissed breath at the question. "Yes." Said one in red.

"I don't know what happened when Jaune left to speak to someone in private. But he came to see me before he left in the early evening. Jaune said that they wanted him out of the picture for the next five days without killing him. Don't use the huntsmen. Good luck Patrolman Polendina."

Penny nodded. It was only as she tried to say something did she realized she had covered her mouth with her hands in shock. Penny tried her best to focus. "Do we know what will happen to him after the five days?"

Junior shook his head. "I am sorry girl. I wish I had more information for you."

Penny nodded. She felt dumb for doing so. But it was all she could do at the moment. "Thank you for letting me know Mr. Junior. I- I need to go. I have work to do."

Penny was out the door. She needed to get outside. She needed some air. She needed to just be away from here. The elevator was agonizing slow as it made its descent to the first floor. Penny took the ride to force herself to slow down her thinking. She could be sad for Jaune later. She needed to find out what will happen before five days have passed. _Why go with them Jaune?_

Penny started to run out of the building and down the street. The bull heads would be closed and she needed to get back to Beacon. Penny ran into an alley and planted both of her feet and crouched before her body ascended into the air with a mighty jump up to the roof. _What could possibly have been the reason you would willingly leave with them without even saying a word?_

She quickly took off her jacket that Bernedette so painstakingly chose for her to impress Jaune. It was confusing at the time and that is what stuck with her. Everything was so confusing. Penny's mind raged as she kicked off the roof into the air. Two black bars that were strapped to her back flew and locked into position behind her and unfolded into two compact jets that revved to life in green energy. Penny rocketed to Beacon. At the bottom of her vision, Penny could see the green lights that reflected off the surface of the lake as she flew by. _Can I do this?_

Penny ignored the instruction to talk to the headmaster. She was already afraid that Jaune would be right. That Mr. Ozpin would allow Jaune to die to keep the peace. It was the right decision, a part of her assaged her guilty conscience. At the same time it was all so wrong. "I need his notes." Penny tried to reason. She ran up the flights of stairs. The elevator was too slow. At his floor she came to a stop in front of Jaunes apartment. She stopped when she realized she didn't have a key. She tried the door knob anyway. It was locked. Penny extended two threads of thin wire from her wrist. They slid into the keyhole as Penny found the right combination of pins to unlock the door. The door swung open with no resistance.

As soon as Penny walked in she recognized there was someone in Jaunes apartment. All of the confused panicked thoughts halted. The life sign was in a room to the side. Penny walked forward quietly and moved up to rooms' door that was still ajar.

The sound of light even breathing broke the silence of the apartment. Penny pushed the door open further and found a woman sleeping on the bed. She held a pillow tightly to her chest. Penny recognized her from one of the photos on Jaune's wall.

"Jaune… Love you." she murmured sleepily as she pulled the pillow closer.

Penny stopped and watched the woman. Penny finally had a face to the voice Jaune called before he walked into Juniors. This was the one person Jaune loved. Penny looked around while the woman slept. The room was nearly as barren as the living room.

Penny moved around the bed and found what Jaune described as the back up scroll. Penny left the room and was relieved that the breathing of the woman did not change. She was almost out of the door to his apartment when she saw something else she may need. On the floor next to a pile of laundry was a blue vest.

Penny was not sure what she was thinking when she grabbed it. She just felt she would need it. Penny was unsure what her next step will be. She hoped that the notes in the scroll would give her a direction.

"I'm really doing this. Aren't I?" Penny marveled at the thought. She looked at the shirt and realized why she grabbed it. She had already accepted she would do this on her own if she had to. She found the open end and slid it on. The patrolman jersey sagged against her petite frame. Penny's jets carried her to the other side of the campus. Penny touched down in front of her hangar in the early hours of the morning. Her jets that floated above her back collapsed back into two folded black bars that sat on her back on top of the blue jersey.

The warrant officers were long gone and the platform looked complete. Penny walked up to it as it came to life. The terminal station was a massive computer that utilized hardlight dust for all of the interfaces. The edge of the platform came to life as several hardlight screens appeared around the rim of the platform. A hardlight table appeared in front of her. She set her jacket in a neat folded pile on it then set Jaune's scroll on the table too. The table changed to connect to the scroll. With a thought she commanded the computer to start the transfer of all of its files to the computer. Several screens began to form around Penny. Four screens sat only as outlined boxes and unused. Penny stared at those blank screens. She would need permission before she actually started to access what she wanted from those terminals.

Penny found what Jaune had thought about what could happen if one family could start a war. She placed them on a screen. Another group of notes consisted of what it could look like if the uprising was from multiple families. That had its own terminal. "So many things to look and make sense of." Penny finally said after an hour of dead silence.

Penny looked at the clock. It was nearly five o'clock in the morning. "This is a first. I am actually glad I am an android. Jaune could probably only get ten hours of searching done a day." Penny closed four terminals. The hardlight blinked out of existence before a large one formed. A large detailed map of the city formed. Penny started marking different points to look into once daylight appeared. "I get twenty four."

Penny exhaled and looked at the map of Vale before she started to place markers on it. "I can do this."

Penny ignored the hiccup that escaped her throat.

A/N: Finally! This chapter is so late. I wanted this out before the start of VOL 7 and all I could do was swear as things happened in the show. Oh well. I am pretty behind schedule for the story. Real life happened unfortunately. Next chapter should be mid January. If I'm lucky I can still squeeze it out at the end of December.

As a joke during a discord conversation a friend and I laughed at the idea of Jaune and Penny being junior detectives. That seemed to have stuck with me and found its way into the story. Penny had been the plan for a while now. She feels like she is one of those hard characters to write since there are so few interactions of her in the show, and the ones that we see are mostly with just Ruby.


End file.
